» Social Media Marketing SMM - Vancouver Web Marketing
Social media marketing refers to gaining website traffic or attention through social media platforms or hubs such as Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitter, Vimeo and YouTube.
Social media itself is a catch-all term for sites which provide radically different social interactions. For example, Twitter is a social site developed to allow people to share short "updates" with others. Facebook, on the other hand, is a well-rounded social networking site which enables people to share updates, photos, join events and a variety of other activities.
Social media is largely about understanding and building communities, then interacting within them in a mutually beneficial way. Individual social campaigns boost visibility and value, while maintained social presence not only creates strong long term relationships, but contributes to search engine rankings. Our Vancouver social media marketing strategies consider both campaign-oriented and ongoing activities.
♦ Choosing To Be Social - Vancouver Social Media Marketing
Our Vancouver social media marketing solutions center on creating content which attracts attention and drives visitors to share it with their social networks. Corporate messages spread from user to user and presumably resonate as they appear to come from a trusted, third-party source, as opposed to the brand or company itself.
Through social networking sites, brands and companies can have conversations and interactions with individual followers. This personal interaction can instill a feeling of loyalty into followers and potential customers. By choosing whom to follow on these sites, products and services can reach a very targeted audience.
Social media marketing can help you ...
- drive website traffic and monitor user behavior
- increase your website's number of page views
- diversify campaign exposure
- track conversions and sales
- grow brand awareness
- create positive brand association
- garner invaluable customer feedback
- evolve your product/service offering
And the aforementioned barely begin to scratch the surface of how powerful social media marketing can be. In the wrong hands, social media marketing can also be quite dangerous. Let's just say if you're having a bad day all around - you probably don't want to start ranting about it on Facebook or Twitter. Be cognizant of what gets posted, and have a social media marketing policy in place.
♦ Why Have A Social Media Marketing Policy?
The biggest challenge for companies when it comes to social media is giving up control. However, for social media to enhance your marketing messages effectively, you will need to trust and empower your users. If you don't, you risk losing their trust.
Should you be at all tentative about social media marketing, propose guidelines which establish boundaries. If you need to limit access or build in an approval process, do it now. It's much easier to be stricter in the beginning and loosen control over time than it is to reign in control after the fact.
Developing and implementing your Vancouver social media marketing policies and procedures doesn't just make it easier to let go, it helps empower your employees, allowing them to get more done. It goes without saying that, if you're in an industry that is heavily regulated, your policy will have to go beyond the basics so it is well-understood what is and what is not permissible.
♦ Which Social Media Sites Make Sense?
There are countless social media and social networking sites on the web today. Which one's make sense to be a part of your Vancouver social media marketing campaign and which don't? The answer really depends on the nature of business you're in and the amount of time and resources you or your team are willing to dedicate to maintaining the social media marketing efforts.
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Blogging + Micro-Blogging
A blog features diary-type commentary and links to articles on other Web sites, usually presented as a list of entries in reverse chronological order. Blogs range from the personal to the political, and can focus on one narrow subject or a whole range of subjects.
Microblogging is a broadcast medium in the form of blogging. A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically smaller in both actual and aggregate file size. Microblogs allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links.
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Social Bookmarking
Social bookmarking is a method for website users to organize, store, manage and search for bookmarks of resources online. Delicious, founded in 2003, popularized the terms "social bookmarking" and "tagging". Tagging is a significant feature of social bookmarking systems, enabling users to organize their bookmarks in flexible ways and develop shared vocabularies known as folksonomies.
- Top Social Bookmarking Websites - Summer 2012
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Social Media
Social media involves the use of web technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogue among organizations, communities, and individuals. Social media sites typically focus on media - photos and video - and are often better able to convey messages than plain text ever could hope to.
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Social Networking
A social networking site is an online platform, which focuses on facilitating the building of social networks or social relations among people who share interests, activities, backgrounds, or real-life connections. A social network typically consists of user profiles, social links, and a variety of additional services.
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Social Reviews
Customers like to read about others who have bought the product or service, or have done business with a company before they do so themselves.
Most people are savvy enough these days to realize advertising is out there for a reason. Reviews on the other hand are presumed to be written by people who are not being paid cash to promote the product in a positive light, making prospective customers or clients trust the business more.
- Top Social Review Sites - Summer 2012
As you can tell, there are a number of directions your business could go socially.
- start a blog or begin micro-blogging about your business' latest interesting updates
- join a handful of social bookmarking sites and get involved with their communitites
- sign up for your social network business page, and start communicating with your customers
- encourage customers/clients to add their comments on your Yelp or Google Places review pages
Remember,... it's about being social, not selling.
♦ Engaging Our Vancouver Social Media Marketing Services
At Digital Diamond Web Media, our Vancouver social media marketing team understands all this "social media" may seem to be a little overwhelming. Sure, it may very well take a little time to cultivate contacts in your chosen networks - as the saying goes, you reap what you sow. We're ready to work with you, to teach you the ropes and pass the reigns on when you're comfortable and ready.
Be sure to contact our Vancouver social media marketing team for more information on how we can help your online business today - call 604.540.2348 or email us!