Marketing to social media sites is a current hot topic. Most companies have at least begun to realize that if they’re not developing a social media strategy, they run the risk of lagging behind, especially in these post Universal Search days. But what is social media, and how do you market to it?

Social media is basically a way of getting a message out to a wide audience or community, using a mechanism that allows that audience to participate in some fashion. There are many different forms of social media sites out there, with many different players in each. It seems as though there are new social media sites appearing on a weekly basis, but be aware that not all will make it, or are useful for your purposes.

Blogs

Blogs are a very effective way to get a message out to a community, and allow for the community to provide feedback, either through comments on the site, or through trackbacks when they place a link to the original article on their discussion of the blog post. Blogs can vary in topic from personal to corporate sites. The way to build up a following is to provide consistent content, and market that content to an audience that will appreciate that content. That following can then track a blog through use of RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feeds that inform them of new posts.

Video

Sites such as YouTube allow users to view videos, vote on them, and comment on them. Videos that receive more views and better ratings are pushed to the top of the stack, and are therefore seen by more people.

Voting Sites

Sites such as Digg and Netscape allow users to vote on stories and articles submitted by other users. Those that receive the most votes in the shortest period of time get pushed to the front page, and therefore get more visitors.

Social Networks

Social networks allow users to connect with other users and form individual networks of friends or colleagues. Information can then be pushed out to the network, or resources shared throughout the network. Examples include the popular MySpace, the professional LinkedIn, and FaceBook.

There are many other types of social media sites out there that can be used to market your company, some of which may be targeted to your particular niche, and would therefore be a great fit. It just takes some research on your part to ensure that you are targeting the right social media sites for your company, and allowing the right people to connect with you.

Obviously, we here at RedBoots can help you make that determination, and assist you with planning your social media strategy, but we’re also going to help out by starting a new series on this blog. This new series will provide an overview of leading social media sites, where the team will talk about the features and benefits of each site, with the aim being for you to see whether a particular site may be beneficial for you. The first article in this series will be published today and is all about the professional social media site - LinkedIn.

[tags]Social Media, Social Media Sites[/tags]

Filed under: Social Marketing on Monday, August 6th, 2007 by Simon Heseltine |
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