35
Ways to Market Content with Social Media: Share
Articles, Blogs, Videos and More to Grow Your Business
By Stephanie
Chandler
There is no denying that the
popularity of social media is increasing by the day. For
sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter (herein known
as “The Big Three”), the fastest growing demographic
consists of users 35 years and older. Though social
media was once considered a fad for kids, it has evolved
into a viable marketing opportunity for business.
For the casual user, social
media is a way to connect with friends and family. For
the business user, social media works by sharing
compelling content to capture the attention of your
target audience. When you do this well, you can count on
generating website traffic, client leads and even media
attention.
“The Big Three” revolve
around the concept of a status update. When you update
your status, everyone in your network can view what you
have to say. This is where the real opportunity lies.
Instead of updating your status to report what you’re
having for dinner or that it’s time to pick up your
kids, share interesting content and watch the magic of
social media unfold.
Type of Content to Share
on Social Media Channels
1. Your new blog posts
2. Someone else’s blog post
3. An article you’ve written
4. An article from somewhere
else
5. A video demonstration
6. A funny or controversial
video
7. Before and after photos
of work you’ve done
8. Humorous or inspiring
photos
9. Client success
stories/case studies
10. Free ebook
11. Special report
12. White paper
13. Upcoming event
announcement
14. Live reports from an
event you are currently attending
15. Book
reviews/recommendations
16. Recommended products
17. Recommended services
18. Tips for doing something
better
19. How-to suggestions
20. A series of related
posts
21. Recent media coverage
you have received
22. Inspirational advice
(preferably your own, motivational quotes are over-used
online)
23. Forward someone else’s
update (with proper credit attribution)
24. Breaking news alerts
25. Leads for opportunities
(media, clients, etc.)
26. Requests for
participation (guest posts on your blog, speaker for an
event you’re hosting, etc.)
27. Interesting photo from a
recent event
28. Teleseminar/Webinar
invitation
29. Contest announcements
30. Special sales, offers
and discounts (delivered sparingly)
31. Request for audience
feedback
32. A compelling question
you want answered
33. Anything offered for
free
34. Insider tips that people
won’t find anywhere else
35. Your opinion on just
about anything with target audience appeal
Secrets to Social Media
Marketing Success
1. Content should appeal
to your target audience and provide value.
Also, it doesn’t always have
to be directly related to what you do. For example, a
mortgage broker might share community resources, local
event announcements and family-related tips. This type
of information would likely be more appealing to the
broker’s target audience than current interest rates and
articles about mortgage insurance (though you can
occasionally include those too). The point is to become
a valued resource.
2. Follow the 90/10 rule.
Avoid selling online and you
will achieve more sales. That’s right; we’re all tired
of being sold to. When you provide value, you build
loyalty and trust. It’s fine to include sales offers up
to 10% of the time, but make sure you are primarily
serving up useful content.
3. Use compelling titles
and descriptions.
You only have a limited
amount of space to share information which means that a
good title can make the difference between a reader who
clicks through or completely ignores your post.
4. Track your results.
Pay attention to user
response. If you’re receiving comments and your content
is being forwarded to others (for example, retweeting on
Twitter), that is evidence that your efforts are
working. Also, your network should be growing steadily
as a result of the value you’re providing.
5. Use links wisely.
When you share compelling
content, it provides an opportunity to link back to your
website or blog. This is great for building website
traffic. However, not every post needs to have a link.
Mix up your posts so that some simply offer something
short and sweet. You can also shorten links and track
the number of click-throughs with a service like
http://bit.ly.
5. Be consistent.
You will get the best
results from marketing content through social media by
participating on a regular basis. Ideally you should
share something every day, even multiple times per day,
to stay visible. You can automate some of your updates
with services like
http://ping.fm,
http://socialoomph.com and
http://hootsuite.com. But don’t automate everything!
Keep reading…
6. Engage with your
audience.
Social media involves a
two-way conversation. It’s not just about shoving data
out into your network and waiting to reap the rewards.
Reply to people who comment, forward and share useful
content from others and make sure you have a human
presence in social media land.
7. Build a social media
plan.
You can venture into social
media haphazardly or you can form a plan that makes
sense for your business. A plan should identify your
target audience, include a strategy for ongoing content
generation, should identify frequency of updates and
indicate the amount of time and resources you are going
to allocate to managing your social media strategy.
8. Implement a 30-day
challenge.
Use the suggestions outlined
here and focus your efforts for 30 days. The results
should be obvious. If they aren’t, then there is
something amiss with your strategy. Ask others for input
or solicit the help of a social media expert. There is
opportunity for every kind of business to benefit from
social media. You simply need to find the strategy that
works for you.
About
the Author:
Stephanie Chandler is an author of several business and marketing books
including "LEAP!
101 Ways to Grow Your
Business" and “From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur:
Make Money with Books,
eBooks and Information
Products.” She is
also founder and CEO of
http://AuthorityPublishing.com, which
specializes in custom publishing and
internet marketing
services, and
http://BusinessInfoGuide.com, a directory of
resources for entrepreneurs.
For author and speaker details, visit
http://StephanieChandler.com.
*This
article can be reprinted in full provided the author
resource box is included with the publication.
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