Lesson 3 – How To Use Web 2.0 Social Networking Sites To Maximize Your Marketing Efforts

Posted on 28. Mar, 2010 by admin in Online Training

This lesson is going to be a little long but it contains tons of good information that you can put to use immediately.

Social networking sites offer you a great way to get yourself known. Social networking sites allow you to create a profile and then network with other users on the site. Most social networking sites allow you to join groups so that you can meet up with other like-minded individuals. The thing is that you need to watch how you use social networking site to promote your business since you do not want to be seen as pushy. No one likes a pushy salesperson. You have what is known as a hard sale and a soft sale. When using sites; such as MySpace and Facebook, or any other social networking site, you want to use soft sale. When using sites. This means you want them to know what you are offering without feeling like it is being shoved in their face. I will break down a few sections of a social networking site and show you how you can soft sale people.

Creating Your Profile:

This is your main area that you will want to do your promoting. Remember that your website should have your business profile on it. With that in mind, you are going to make your profile on the social networking site a little more personal.

Take advantage of the fact that this is an informal place so you are free to be personal. MySpace allows you to put information on your favorite movies, music, and interests. Those areas should be filled in and give people an insight into you. After all we all feel more comfortable purchasing products and services from those we know, like and trust.

In a brick and mortar business, your customer comes in and you deal with them face to face. During those transactions there are openings for you and the customer to talk and share personal information. For example, take going to the furniture store. During the conversation, you may ask the salesman how many kids you have and you at this point will learn home many kids the salesman may have at home. It is this personal information that helps to build bonds that forge business relationships. The next time you go to the store for furniture, you may request that same salesperson to assist you.

We do not have this chance on the internet. Therefore, you need to take advantage of the chance you are given to let the potential customer see you as not only a professional but also as someone who is just like them.

I use my profile in Facebook to promote my business that I have. My main profile features a slide show of various pictures of my family and myself. These are just some random home shots and captions of who everyone is. This is my personal area on the internet and I use it in conjunction to promote my business. The informal layout and personal feel of my profile had driven a large amount of traffic to my website.

As you can see, your are getting personal with those that are visiting your profile, while at the same time, you have made mention of your website and have placed a very obvious link on your profile to your website. You are not pushing your business by speaking only of the business and the link is your soft sale if they are interested.

Joining Groups:

Most social networking sites have a group section where you can find groups with your interests to join. The groups usually have the members main profile picture and name displayed for all group members to see as well as a forum area for all group members to discuss things relevant to the group. This is a great way to put your profile to work for you and start sending traffic to your website.

The part where most people fail to realize when using groups to market their websites is to not spam the group forums. So many people join up with a group and then start putting links to their websites up in the group forum in hopes of driving people to their websites. This is poor manners within a group and will usually result in not only you being banned from the group but also your account with the social networking site being shut down. This does not benefit you in any way and is the quickest way to lose credibility as a professional.

So how do you use the group to drive traffic to your website? Well, this is simple. This is how it works. You already have created a nice personal profile that does point to your website. The purpose of the group is to network with other like minded people and in return you can count on the fact that they will check your profile out. Once they have checked your profile out, if there is mention to your business, which there should be, then in most cases they will check this out as well.

Just take part in the discussions and leave the rest to your profile. You do not want to push your business too hard in front of people in the group forums. Just relax and socialize and the rest will fall into place on this one.

Check to see if the social networking sites you are using has a signature area for group forum postings. You can use the signature areas to place a piece of text linked to your business so that all of your postings at least advertise in an appropriate way. For the text just put your business name and then link it to your website and you are done.

Onsite Blogs:

Social networking sites; such as Facebook or any other social networking site, have blogs that you can add to your profile. When you create your blog entries, the first few entries’ titles and a brief overview are displayed on your profile page. This allows other users to find your blog entries easier. Depending on your business or service, there are several ways that you can utilize the blog that these social networking sites offer.

For example, take that you are offering a service for custodial parents to collect on past due child support. You can use the blog to write up your own mini articles that deal with you the chance to offer useful and valuable information separate from your web site so that your web site is not overly cluttered with tons of information. Show those in need of your service how you can help them after showing them why they need the help. Be factual but creative and always remember to direct them back to your website.

For those that have products to sell, social networking sites are a great place to show case some of your products. Take the time to create some catchy entries for several of your products. Most social networking sites do not seem to have the ability to put pictures in your blog entry, so make sure that your words do the describing and get your point across. Tell people how that product in that entry post will benefit them. If you only have one product, don’t worry you can still pull this off without sounding repetitive.

Let’s take an example like green tea as a product that you may be selling. Now you only have this one product but you are going to still use the blog to catch the interest of potential customers. Your first post would of course describe the product and some of the benefits of your product. Now you have your entry and it points to your website. A couple days later or so you post an entry that may discuss your company’s sales rate on that product. You can say something about the sales rate and how consumers’ purchases shows that this product is in hot demand. Are there any new studies whether formal or informal out on your product? Post your finding about this as well. All of these posts are getting you seen and your business out there for all of your potential customers.

Remember to point back to your website so that you can close the sale. Use words; such as, “Click Here to Get Yours Now”, “Click Here To Learn More”, “Click Here to Find Out if This is Right for you” and so forth. Just let them know where to click. I found if I put Click Here and some other words, more people did go from my Facebook blog entry to my website. Now, if you are offering a service, you can post your business phone number at the bottom of each blog entry.

Don’t be afraid to get creative and get their attention. Remember to keep our blog fresh because a stale, untouched blog will lose readers. Since most blogs that are on site have an entry date on them, even a new reader will go elsewhere if your entry dates are old. This is an important part of marketing with a blog and if you cannot keep them fresh, then it will work against you. Now your posts do not have to be lengthy all the time. In fact, you want to keep them short but to the point. So about five to ten minutes every other day should be relatively all you need.

So, let’s recap how to use social networking sites. First create a personal informal profile that shows you as a person. Next, find groups that fit with your interests and join them. Never spam the groups. This is just your way of getting yourself seen as pushing your product or service. Remember that social networking sites are just one form of the Web 2.0 web site types.

Until next time…Bye for now.