social media

What is “social media marketing” for you?

Probably the first things you have in mind are the social media tools such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn or Xing. Then you think about generating traffic on your website using these tools and consequently attracting potential customers. But from there, where do you start? What do you do? How often? How do you effectively measure your presence? And a last question you must ask yourself:  “do I really need some expertise here and why shouldn’t I try myself, since most of those tools are free?

What you have to remember is that social media needs a strategy behind it to deliver results; you will need to be an “influencer”.

Do you think you will sell your “product” if you start writing now on Twitter “best product, best price, buy it now at http://www.yes-i-buy-it-now.com”? Do you think that this will attract any potential customers? You can try but I’m afraid this won’t work. The obvious sales pitch doesn’t necessarily sell today. Too many offers on the Internet, too many pitches, too many “best products”… No one believes it, no one believes YOU.

In the social media arena, you’ll need first to build a name, and develop that name so that you become someone to be trusted. Next to that, you’ll have to forget the direct sales approach which can ruin your credibility, reputation and the confidence you’re trying to build in your brand. Last, you’ll have to avoid speaking up to anyone, but here again, focusing on your target group.

As you can see, using a social media marketing tool is almost a science, a combination of psychology, sales and marketing techniques, writing talents, both in very short creative slogans as well as long articles and posts on forums. You’ll need to be very careful about what to publish and where to publish it, since you are the writer. In other words, you’ll need to provide valuable and accurate information on an ongoing basis without a sales or marketing angle. Through this technique, you’ll become the “influencer” and will start seeing contacts who buy from you.

CreateColours can help you by building a solid strategy based on how, what, when and where to publish to meet your objectives.

A few social media tools classified upon categories of your needs: