Examples of social media applications are Google Groups (reference, social networking), Wikipedia (reference), MySpace (social networking), Facebook (social networking), Youmeo (social network aggregation), Last.fm (personal music), YouTube (social networking and video sharing), Second Life (virtual reality), Flickr (photo sharing), Twitter (social networking and microblogging) and other microblogs such as Jaiku and Pownce.

What is Social Media Marketing (SMM)?

SMM is where you use social media networking and user-generated content platforms to promote a product, service or content. SMM typically involves creating and participating in a “conversation” with the target audience, rather than blatantly advertising to them.

SMM can also include creating and promoting viral content that is meant to be shared by users. Many marketers are not comfortable with the lack of control over social media but when approached properly, social networks can be extremely effective channels for building product evangelism, reputation management or corporate branding

Why is it becoming so popular?

I believe it’s simply because it mirrors our true nature. We are gregarious by nature and for once we are able to use technology easily to reach out and connect in new and exciting ways. It’s still all so new too, there are new frontiers popping up regularly and it’s a bit like the early Internet “gold rush” days during the 90′s

Is every Social Media site for every entrepreneur?

They might not think so, but it is. You do it naturally every day, SM online is simply the same thing applied technologically.

How does a business owner determine which site is the best match for them?

Good question. Not all SM Sites are equal. I typically advise people to think “classical marketing” and don’t let the ‘flashing lights’ fool you. Visit the site, pat attention to the conversation. “Lurk” for a while. Ask a question, see what happens. Each environment has its own rules. Blunder in and start shouting and you’ll get flamed. Respect the environments ‘sub culture’ and you’ll do fine. An obvious example of this in action is a site that caters to “gamers” – you instinctively know that if you’re selling insurance you would have a tough time in that environment. Like I said, think like a classical marketer.

Are there some “best practices” steps to starting and maintaining your SMM sites? And how do I make social networking work for me?

Social Media Marketing

Many a company has forgotten the old maxim, “Act in haste, repent at your leisure…” The same warning should be applied to companies rushing to get in on the social media marketing wave.

If you hear things at work like “We should have a blog,” or “Let’s join Facebook,” I suggest [respectfully] that maybe you are about to make a whopper of a mistake.

Here’s why…

Backwards is bad

You are starting your social media strategy design backwards – and this will lead to trouble.

In any other business endeavor we start by figuring out what we want to accomplish. Social media technologies are not magical. They’re just tools too. It’s time to stop doing social media marketing because it’s trendy and instead do it because it works!

4 Things to Remember

(1) The web is about people. You need to know your audience. Understand their capabilities, their hangouts online, their language and behaviors. If you’re targeting business travelers then consider rating and review sites for example. Just don’t guess…

(2) Figure out what will be different when you are done. This is the “why” behind your plans. Do you want to create a close knit community or a product testing ground. Understand the motive’s behind your actions.

(3) What outcomes and objectives are you seeking to achieve. Consider the end result and how you will measure it. A fuzzy or fluffy end result is almost as bad as not specifying one at all. How will you measure success?

(4) What technology to choose. Only answer this question when you’ve completed the others because then you’ll know with clarity and confidence.

In conclusion, if you recognize classic business planning and management principles amongst these notes you’d be correct. The game may have changed, but the rules are still the same. Plan first, then act with confidence.

How long is this new type of marketing going to take to master?

The actual skills are quite simple – you likely already have them mastered. What you need to learn is the PROCESS. That takes a little time, but frankly not that much.

What if I don’t know many people to invite to my network?

No problem. Answer this question “If you are the ANSWER, what was the QUESTION?” Armed with that answer you can locate groups of people who would need what you offer. You can then invite them to participate and you can SHARE your knowledge and expertise to PROVE you are the answer to their problem. Use your favourite search engine to locate these people – simply type in the QUESTION or problem. Remember, if people knew the answer they wouldn’t be looking 

How can I get business through SMM?

It’s a funny thing when I’m asked this. We do it daily, so I marvel at the fact people think it’s different online. Sure there’s a layer of technology in the mix, but it’s still about people getting to know people. Remember the old maxim, people buy from people they like and trust.

SMM simply enables (or should I say empowers) you to do this more effectively.

Why Most Brands Fail on Social Networks

A new report from JupiterResearch sheds light on what many online marketers suspected for quite some time. Most brands are failing to make impact on social networks…

Naughton’s Law states: “We invariably over-estimate the short-term implications of new communications technologies, and we grievously underestimate their long term impacts.” Every brand should be online in the best way, know its consumers, and maximize the benefit of its online offering to those consumers.

Here are some startling facts from the report:

Startling Facts:

(*) The average branded social networking page has only 6,494 friends.
(*) Many advertisers are still building branded social networking pages that broadcast content rather than inviting users to interact.
(*) “Most advertisers simply don’t know how to market properly within social networks.” – JupiterResearch

- New Research Suggests:

(*) You should promote your SM pages with paid adverts rather than relying on viral marketing to get the message out. Building viral buzz is harder than you think.
(*) You need to engage users on the page. Even simple forms of engagement, such as contests, on average doubled the number of friends acquired by each branded page.
(*) You must also appeal to social networkers’ love of multimedia to get noticed. Social Networkers are twice as likely to visit a branded page focused on media content than a branded page focused on products.

How does the non-writer do this type of marketing?

It really shouldn’t pose a problem. The ‘Net is vast and there’s room for each of us to be AUTHENTIC. Even behind the shield of a computer many of us seem able to sense a scoundrel or someone “putting on airs”.

If you can email you can do SM. If you can talk you can SM. If you have a pulse… you get the idea.

Do the Social Media Marketing sites have fees to pay?

Typically NO. I advise you to initially avoid any sites that ask for payment until you know precisely what you are paying for. There are some good fee based sites out there, but the good ones also offer a free version too – start there if you wish. Let the results determine the level of investment you are prepared to make.

Are there some sites that you would recommend for business people?

LinkedIn.com
eCademy.com
SelfGrowth.com
Ning.com – ‘create your own’ Social Media website.

Will I have to spend hours a day keeping in touch with all of the people who write to me?

You will need to invest time and energy in your online marketing. Whether it’s YOU that does this or one of your staff is entirely up to you. But you cannot expect a “set and forget” solution to something that is inherently human.

How can I protect myself from “weirdoes?”

Be careful. Don’t give away sensitive or private information online. You will always be exposed to some degree to odd people. I get some very odd emails and propositions, however you need to remember this is business, and although you are using “personal skills” to network online, never forget that.

How can I come across as a professional on these sites, and is it possible to do “real” business this way?

Yes. Publish a professional PROFILE. Show you are a professional and act accordingly and you will be perceived as such. Include family photos of you dressed as a clown at your kids birthday party at your own peril. Remember, online your “goofs” are eternal and will haunt you forever. Online reputation is area you need to tread carefully within. It’s a bit off topic, but that’s why I tell teenagers that they should be very careful about the pictures and posts they put on these social websites. Because in a few years the recruiters will be Googling them and this will be part of their “resume” and frankly it can be a career killer before it even starts.

Why do some people seem to get good results and others just get discouraged?

As with all things in life some people quit too early. Social Media Marketing and Social Networking takes time. It’s like any relationship you develop with another human, rushing to the finish just gets you slapped… Metaphorically and literally too!

Also, success online isn’t about one big thing, it’s about a cluster of little things done consistently with focus and commitment. The strongest trees take the longest to grow. Online things happen a lot faster, but still there is a time commitment, think 6 to 12 months and you’ll be thinking along the right lines.

Is there a “fast start” strategy once I sign up for a Social media marketing site?

There is. Create a professional profile. Publish some content establishing you as an expert in your field. The ‘readers’ will approve and so will the search engines. Explore the active or “hot zones” within the SM site, pay attention to the type of communication and then dive in. Give first. Build kudos and credit before you try asking for anything.

To keep up, use technology to “feed” your SM presence from your other sites like your blog or website. I use technology to syndicate and publish my content to all my SM sites with the push of one button. It makes connecting and staying up to date a breeze.

Remember to invite your friends to join you. Add a promotional button on your “other” sites – for instance if you decide to join Twitter, you can put a “Follow Me” link on your website. Connect, Communicate and Commit. Now ‘rinse and repeat.’

I recently watched a webinar hosted by Maddock Douglas on social media strategy, and the above quote in the presentation made me think about the place that social media has within overall business strategy.  I’m relatively new to social media marketing myself, but the above quote reminds me of an article I read (Porter, Michael E., “Strategy and the Internet”, pp 62-78, March 2001, Harvard Business Review) about the role of the internet in business strategy in the mid to late 1990s.  I’ll spare you the experience of reading it by providing a very brief and general summary.  I hope you keep reading my short article; I’m interested in your thoughts.

The internet ushered in a new way of conducting business.  Relationships between buyers and suppliers (B2B) were solidified due to the proprietary nature of e-commerce platforms and database management systems.  They were solidified because of the high switching costs inherent in the technology.  As such it was often predicted at the time that the internet would contribute to sources of competitive advantage, the key component of business strategy.  This did not happen.  As internet applications evolved along with internet technology, and implementation as well as hardware costs dropped significantly, it was quickly seen that internet technology would greatly facilitate business processes and transactions, but not result in competitive advantage for any particular firm or sector, simply because everyone now has access to it, and acquisition and switching costs are often not significant.  In fact, the internet increased competition because it allowed buyers, whether business or consumer, to access information that was previously unavailable to them (competitors, 3rd party reviews, videos, and more), and quickly.  In short, the internet made buyers more savvy.

From a company’s perspective, having access to the internet, as well as a website is seen as a necessity in today’s business environment, as opposed to a competitive advantage, as some predicted a decade and a half ago.  This finally brings me back to social media’s place in business strategy.

Adoption of social media platforms is still not ubiquitous.  This is simply because the concept is still relatively new, and popular in only some industries.  In fact, social media use is also regionalized.  By that I mean that some countries have adopted it much more than others, even though they have considerable access to the internet (something to keep in mind when considering your target market while designing your social media strategy).  And for those reasons there are many companies specializing in social media-related services, and more are coming because it’s still a developing industry, just like the dot-coms were in the late 1990s.  The difference is that the internet was thought to revolutionize the way business is done in general, and many dot-com companies abandoned the fundamentals of business strategy.  Very simplistically, this is in part why the dot-com bubble burst early this decade.  Not that the circumstances will be repeated, but nevertheless a lesson that today’s social media marketers and service providers should keep in mind when strategically planning ahead.  But I’m going off topic.

As industries, companies, and countries adapt and embrace social media, it may also become a necessity, just like the internet did, and not a competitive advantage.  This is already happening.  I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard someone say that if you don’t use social media in your business you’ll be left behind.  So guess what I did.  I started using social media.  You’re looking at it right now.  Adoption of social media is becoming a necessity rather than a differentiating factor in an already competitive business environment.

Internet based technologies develop and evolve quickly.  Some become business critical, such as customer relationship management (CRM) systems (eg. Salesforce.com), and communication tools (email).  I believe that social media (marketing) is not far from becoming critical to business.  All these technologies have something in common: The rate at which they evolve from tools of differentiation to those of necessity in order to compete on level ground.  Business corporate strategy, on the other hand, does not change at this pace.  Much like other internet applications, social media is a tool and should be part of a business strategy, but alone it is insufficient to be the business strategy.  To be successful, a company’s social media strategy should reflect its foundation, which is the corporate or business strategy.

To me, the quote at the beginning mirrors the rapidly changing nature of technological tools, and the need to ground them in solid business strategy.

Project Management Institute, (PMI.org), one of worlds’ leading organizations for project management professionals, describes Communications as one of the Knowledge Area for the project management; while identifying this as one of the critical link in the project management process, it describes the importance of ensuring proper communications management process in the PMBOK Guide. Planning how much communication is required, ways to distribute the same in timely manner, performance reporting, and managing stake-holders communication is one of the paramount task of project management professionals. While electronic media has been added as one of the methodologies, recently Social Media is poking in to the scene.

As I had written in my wordpress blog post, last year:

http://committedexpertise.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/the-conversation-economy/

In our society now, considerable part of people who live in digital life, engage in social media. This is fact.  Project Managers are of course, part of the society.

There is ever growing challenges to project management! The flattened world has thrown opportunities on one side, and at the same time, new challenges on the other side. Highly disparate, widely distributed teams! Economic challenges! Downturn! New business models! Distributed man power! These challenges are met by the new Web 2.0 tools in real world now. Social Media is about benefiting from conversation; seamless team work and collaboration. What are some of these tools? Project Blogs, Project Wiki Page, RSS Feeds, micro blogs, etc., Effective use of these tools help overcome the challenges and improve performance.

The moment we say tool, only the use makes difference. In Social Media Communication, too! Project Managers realize that it still not about the tool, but the amount of meaningful collaboration that they make out of it. That makes the difference. As PMI’s Project Management processes by goes by ITTO ie., Inputs, Tools and Techniques and Outputs, Social Media as tool and technique can make a hell of a difference in output of results.

A reference worth pondering on this topic:

Let us look at a real world example; as of today, two books have become most talked about ones – recommended for this summer reading, as of July 2010. One is, by David Krik Patrick. Another is by Chris Brogan. The author of the second book, Chris Brogan says that every one now, needs three minimum social media tools, three minimum tools: Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.

PMs, Listening?

Malick.

As a marketing strategy, SEO is used to increase a site’s relevance. The SEO recognizes how search organics work and what people are searching for. It also initiates efforts to include unique content to a site to ensure that its content is easily indexed by search engine robots, making it more appealing to users. Other techniques are the Black Hat SEO and White Hat SEO. Before distinguishing these techniques, however, one must have knowledge of the three major search engines on the internet. The leading and most marketable search engine is Google. Yahoo and MSN bring up the rear. The majority of the people who “surf” the internet use Google. More over, every search engine on the web has personal algorithms to implement a method for evaluating the importance of your website. Specifically, they have to optimize their website according to detailed guidelines. One type of individual within the SEO may follow the guidelines of these search engines, others may not. Subsequently, it is a necessity to identify the difference between the Black Hat SEO and the White Hat SEO.

SEO techniques are basically classified into two broad categories: techniques that search engines recommend as part of an impressive design and those techniques that search engines greatly disapproves of; which are referred to as spamdexing. The Black Hat SEO technique is used by people that demonstrate intent to deceive the search engine. They feel that the search engine is their enemy. Unfortunately, these people refuse to follow the rules and use unethical measures to achieve top ranking. The Black Hat SEO uses text that is hidden or color disguised or it may use a method that is referred to as cloaking. The White Hat SEO is an ethical way of search engine optimization. It creates content for users, not for search engines. Furthermore, it makes that content easily accessible to the spiders, rather than attempt to deliberately deceive the algorithm. Upon the discovery of Black Hat techniques, search engines may penalize sites by reducing their rankings or eliminating their listings from the database.

One of the best tools that most web business owners can utilize is the search engine optimization. The SEO will make the most out of your business online. SEO is significant in that it has the power to increase the website traffic while simultaneously improving your sales. Website business owners have the opportunity to obtain an advantage over the online competition. Ironically, many owners are not familiar with SEO and its benefits; therefore they are apt to commit mistakes in the attempt to utilize such a program.

One of the prominent mistakes that web business owners commit is the extensive time dedicated to their website design and not enough time on the content. Primarily focusing on the content will entice more people to visit the website. Instead of spending money on site design, invest in copywriting. Committing to this will certainly benefit the online business as the search engines will reward websites that offer fresh content to their visitors, regardless of its format. However, if it is the owner’s intent to solely improve search engine optimization rankings, perhaps they should post blogs or forums that visitors can use to interact with others. A web business owner must also offer something unique within site’s content. The owner should be able to properly optimize the site so that it is interesting to your targeted market.

Another mistake is the inappropriate keyword phrases. In order to optimize successfully, the owner has to select correct keywords that your customers may use in their search on the web. This is especially essential for small to medium sized businesses. Basically, if the keywords or phrases are not specifically related to your customers’ desires, your website doesn’t appear in the search results. Remember to be descriptive as possible which not only helps the visitors, but the actual online business. Use the words that are related to your content which is called keyword optimization.

The two terms “search engine optimization” and search engine marketing” (SEM) are often used interchangeably. However, the terms have different functions. The SEO is a component of SEM whereas it is a function of the SEM process or campaign. Again, SEO is the process of optimizing a website for search engine listing. The SEM, however, is a form of internet marketing that acknowledges and promotes websites by increasing their visibility within the search engine results page. The methods of SEM include SEO, paid placement, paid inclusion and pay- per- click campaigns which offer the advantage of immediacy.

A popular way of improving your ranking in the search engines is to ensure that your site is important. This can be established through link building. Link building is a measure used to persuade other websites to link to your personal site, thereby increasing your “link popularity.” This process is imperative in attempts to increase your ranking in the search engines. This is also a strategy that is resistant to manipulation while justifying a website’s importance. Consequently, the link building process receives high priority within the internet marketing campaign. Search engine marketing is also a powerful tool for a business owner inbound links to a website by writing articles. These articles should be submitted to article syndication websites where other webmasters are free to use the articles on their sites. The key is to include a link to your website with your signature.

Search engine optimization may not be an appropriate strategy for every website. More so, additional search engines referrals does not guarantee more sales. Also, internet marketing strategies can be effective, depending on the site operators’ goals. Any successful internet marketing campaign can drive organic search results to pages, but it may also require paid advertisement and continued referrals.

The live chats at the Vocus webinar a few weeks ago were fantastically lively and informative, with participants answering as well as asking questions that were posed to the scheduled speakers, Deidre Breakenridge, David Meerman Scott, Beth Harte, Lee Odden and Brian Solis. As time was tight, not all the questions were answered, so we thought we’d scoop some up from the logs and try to give some insights.

Q1: How do I increase my Twitter following?

This was a common question, but there’s no quick answer (unless you use a mass-following tool, which might boost your numbers but won’t necessarily give you a worthwhile audience that includes valuable influencers) – it can be a slow build, however, there are ways to make a difference:

Write content that people want to read! Bit obvious, but just spieling out advertising isn’t the tastiest bait. Write interesting and useful articles and blog posts and link to them; create infographics, videos, slideshows and share them; make astute and witty observations; share content by others that you think your followers will find helpful. Give them a reason to follow you and retweet you.
Search for your audience and follow them – if you’re doing the first point well enough, they’re likely to follow you back. Use any of the numerous Twitter applications and search engines to look for relevant people and influencers who would be interested in what you have to say.
Get involved in Twitter chats to connect with your relevant audience – this is a great opportunity to offer advice, opinions and knowledge to key people who may become followers afterwards. Robert Swanwick has compiled a Twitter Chat Master List where you can find the right subject for you.
Find a way to link what you’re saying to topical themes and hashtagged subjects – this gives you a more targeted audience when people search for those terms and keywords.
Finally, give an incentive now and again – run polls, competitions, promotions to engage and reward your loyal followers, and encourage more people to follow you.

Q2: How can I make my blog more effective?

It’s easy to feel that your blog is lost in the webiverse, but there are ways to increase its visibility and boost traffic.

Just like in question 1, content is key – write posts that are informative, useful, interesting and engaging. See this post for a more in-depth guide on how to write a great blog.
Optimise – just like your website, make sure that you are implementing keywords, links and other SEO tactics to ensure that your blog can be found and ranked by search engines. Register with blog directories such as Technorati or PostRank to add to the places you can be searched for, and to keep an eye on your blog metrics.
Network your blog with other social media platforms, like Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn – link up your RSS feed, or manually link to posts you want to push out there.
Comment on relevant sites and blogs – not with pointless spam directing people to your site, but with genuine, thoughtful comments. If people appreciate what you’re saying, they’ll click through to your blog to see what else you’ve come up with.
Search for other bloggers in your field who you could invite to guest-blog (or blog swap), creating a backlink and an interesting new slant for your blog.
Most importantly, write posts that generate conversation – your audience will be compelled to comment, share, and your traffic will grow.
Distribute: get your posts bookmarked, upload them to relevant sites, copy them to article-sharing sites etc – the more places they can be found, the more they will be read.

Q3: What’s the proper Twitter etiquette on mutual following?

Well, it depends how powerful and influential you are – if you’re such a big shot you’re followed by 20K and only follow one back then good for you, but you won’t be getting much out of the social aspect of Twitter!

You don’t have to follow every person who follows you, but ignoring everyone who tries to interact with you defeats the purpose of Twitter and can be, well, a bit rude. Choose those whose tweets you actually want to read and find useful. If someone’s followed you that you don’t want to add to your following list, then at least send them a “thank you for following” personalised message to show your appreciation. It’s useful to note that you can also add people to lists without having to follow them.

Q4: How do I use YouTube for marketing?

YouTube serves as a standalone search engine that is becoming more and more powerful within social media and SEO. Using it as a marketing tool really depends on your business, your aims and your content, but there are several ways to make use of YouTube as a social media marketing tool:

Set up your own channel, where you can host your videos, link to your website/blog/social media profiles, hold discussions and answer questions.
Use slideshows or infographic videos to back up a blog post or key point.
Give out some personal and local information – show a behind the scenes of your company or location, introduce your staff, give a presentation on something that is important to you and your business.
Document case studies.
Film interviews with key company members, customers, associates etc.
Have some fun – don’t take yourself too seriously (but at the same time, don’t make a total arse of yourself!)
Make instructional and ‘How-To’ videos – these make up a lot of the search content within YouTube, as it’s much easier to learn from watching a demonstration than from reading an explanation.

Once you’ve uploaded a video, share it and distribute it via other social media platforms – embed in your site, your blog, link to it from Twitter and Facebook, add it to Vimeo – the list goes on. Get your content out there!

Q5: How do I measure/monitor the ROI of social media?

This is the big one, and unfortunatley, the answer is not particularly straightforward. The first thing to do is stop trying to fit social media into a traditional sized marketing box. The purpose and results of social media are less tangible than a PPC campaign, or press release launch – social media affects the reach and influence of your company, which in turn will affect its popularity and your website’s traffic, or awareness of your brand, which in turn will affect sales, conversions and profit. So how do you measure engagement?

Firstly, put monitoring tools into place – there are a ton of free tools out there, though you may find that most only cover specific areas of the metrics you are after, so you will need to use several simultaneously, or different tools for different analytics.

T o use these tools effectively, you need to have an aim or goal in mind – what are you trying to measure or track? The number of followers or fans is not the bottom line – you need to look at how those followers are interacting with you, whether they are spreading your message, whether they are driving traffic to your site and more. Focus on an objective and measure the appropriate metrics. Here are some examples of aspects you might want to keep tabs on:

Influence
Click-throughs
Site hits
Re-tweets/mentions
Followers
Fans/Likes
Interactions
Increased time on site
Sharing of your content
Comments
Backlinks
RSS subscribers
Image/video views
Number of bookmarks

For example, you’ve written a blog post on your business’ new product – you publish it, distribute it, linking to the relevant page on your site. Now you need to track its progress. In this case, you’d want to look at how many click-throughs you get to the product landing page, how much new site traffic you receive, whether people are sharing this information amongst their friends. Monitor these aspects through each of the social platforms you publish the information on – and from there you will be able to see how social media affects the number of conversions/sales from each area.

Q6: How do I show the value of social media to my boss/uncertain executives?

Another popular question, especially for companies just starting out with social media marketing. Often, businesses, or those working above marketers, don’t see the instant results of a social media presence (or, as in the point above, are not receiving targeted analytics to prove its value).

First, gather information on how competitors and other companies in your field are utilising social media – see what works, how they’re interacting, and if it’s having an impact on their brand. If you have no social media presence, chances are that someone out there is talking about you (or your line of business) anyway – go and research and see what questions people are asking, what problems they’re coming up against and what they want from you.

Second, find out where your customers are, and where you should be – in which social media community should you be making a presence for yourself? If your audience are big Twitter communicators, get talking to them; if they loiter around YouTube, upload some videos and get comments and views. Find your niche and get settled in it.

Third, take an example from question 5 above, and show your execs some hard facts and figures – and explain the power of resonance involved in social media, how it can strengthen your brand, make valuable connections with customers and act as a fantastic customer service platform.

Q7: What’s the best way to use social media for a Non-Profit organisation?

I think initial supposition is that it’s harder for a non-profit organisation to market themselves, because they are not providing a service or a product in retail terms. Contrary to this assumption, I believe that non-profits actually can do exceptionally well with social media. The very nature of social media interaction connects likeminded people for things they believe in. Social media is emotional, we participate because we want to, because we are moved or amused by something. Non-profit organisations can take this opportunity to promote their work, their aims and the issues they deal with and gain support, publicity and awareness.

A few places to start:

Assuming your organisation already has a website, add a blog, on which you can post content in a more conversational style, on issues and subjects that encourage comment and discussion. For example, some non-profit blogs document the progress of individuals who are fundraising by participating in a sponsored event, or post pictures and videos of success stories and company events.
Facebook accounts have the option of creating a page or a group for your organisation – for this, a page is generally more appropriate, because it enables you to add more structure to the profile, whereas a group might be more useful for a specific goal or issue you are trying to gain support for.
Twitter is a fantastic place for conversation, and raising awareness. Hashtags can easily organise a subject, and recently have been used to attract attention to issues which require donations and assistance, for example many tweeters are adding the hashtag #Pakistan to tweets which include a link to one of the various donation site for the Pakistan flood victims.
Make the most of multimedia and sites like YouTube, Flickr to broaden your message and distribute different types on content.

Q8: Where do I find the time to do all this?!

Well, apparently there’s this hot tub that’s also a time machine… Or, you could just make use of those ‘time management skills’ that are on your CV and get organised.

Focus on one thing at a time – there’s a tendency and a temptation to try to stick your fingers in all the pies when it comes to social media, since there are so many options, so many offshoots and avenues to explore. Target an objective, plan your action and monitor carefully rather than running around madly trying to connect with everyone, everywhere, all at once.
Set realistic goals. Choose a few things that have the highest priority for any particular day. Put the rest aside and concentrate on achieving your immediate goals. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and distracted by the fast-paced realtime world of social media.
Schedule ahead of time. I’m a big fan of Hootsuite for pre-composing tweets and facebook posts, squirreling them away and schedule them to be posted later (there are other social media network options for multiple postings). Then you can concentrate on other distribution and interaction.
Target the most active times for your particular community – look into a monitoring tool and find out when is the best time to post, to join a discussion, to comment and make yourself available at that time – it could be just one hour in a whole week that makes a big impact to your network.
Form a routine. Everyone and every business is going to have different needs, but as you get more proficient within social media, you will start to find a groove, and see how best to organise your time. Having a routine makes things more manageable, makes you more efficient, and rather than making you stuck into a rigid schedule, it actually makes it easier to deviate if you need to, because you know where you left off and where you need to pick up to keep on track.

I hope these were helpful for those of you starting out in social media, or feeling a bit lost in the networking world! If you have any questions about social media marketing, SEO, PPC, web analytics or any other aspect of internet marketing, please let us know and we’ll try to keep posting Q&A articles like this regularly.

Either leave a comment below (or on any other blog post that you have questions about), send us a tweet @ikroh, or post something on our Facebook wall. We’d love to hear from you and we’d be happy to answer your questions.