Seems like everywhere you look small businesses and large companies have caught the social media bug. Whether they showing early signs with the scratchy throat, or have a full blown case of social-media-isis, everyone is either in the game or trying to figure out how to get in the game.

Companies with the budget to pay for major marketing strategies are turning to their marketing department or traditional marketing firms with questions and requests for social media management. Traditional marketing is billboard, TV commercials, mailers, newspaper and other print advertising and they all have the same methodology and goals in mind: Blast your message to the masses and get your business as much visibility as possible.

Some firms have re-branded themselves New Media marketing but even that is rooted in methods like email and pay-per-click marketing which amounts to online advertising. The problem is that in most cases, social media principles contradict the principles of traditional marketing. When was the last time you clicked on a sponsored link or were happy to open an email from a business?

What's Your Strategy?

Social media is anti-advertising. It’s about building relationships through engaging your audience. People now have limitless choices on who to do business with and you can bet that they wont choose the guy with the billboard on your favorite boulevard, or at the top of your favorite search engine! A lot of marketing specialists are simply taking blast marketing methods and implementing them into their social media strategy and after weeks or months of spamming wonder why they aren’t getting results.

So a few questions to ask your social media manager:

• Do we have a strategy that’s rooted in relationship building?
• Is your social media strategy integrating with your current marketing and not contradicting with it?
• Are you getting the results?

If the answer is no or you’re unsure, consider consulting with a social media marketing firm that stands first on relationship building and then on a proven strategy.

Business owners like the idea of fast, easy, and inexpensive (a.ka. cheap) advertising.  They also know however that traditional methods of advertising like mailers, newspaper ads, and billboards to name a few are becoming less effective and remain costly.  So in search of a new way to both advertise and get their business out there, many businesses discover a  fast, easy and cheap method of advertising online by  implementing a pay-per-click marketing strategy.

Before we talk about pros and cons, lets first consider why old school advertising doesn’t work anymore.  There is an old cliche that says people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.  What that’s saying is that people are looking to connect with you and with your business on a deeper level, and throwing a mailer at them or blasting a big ad in the paper or via even email simply doesn’t get that done.  Your business doesn’t appear to care so neither do they. Trash can!

We understand that business owners would prefer not to worry about marketing and Pay-Per-Click is the perfect fire and forget strategy.  The problem is you are paying for a click, not a customer.  How often have you clicked on a site, not found what you wanted immediately and clicked the back button? Do you even click in the sponsored links at the top of Google?  The reality is Pay-per-click is an online billboard.

The Social Media Alternative

Social Media is all about relationships.  Through a little consistency and very little money if any, you build meaningful relationships with your clients.  People know you care because they talk to you interact with them and or others regularly.  Bringing relevant info into their lives, not a sales pitch.

When someone comes to your site, its like a warm call or a referral.  The person knows you and is interested in what you do.  They aren’t looking for something specific, they are probing into your business and if you have something relevant to offer and they have a need its likely they will do business with you.

So when it comes down to it, the product or service you provide effects your the strategy you decide to implement.  If you rely on return clients and customers, relationships are key.  Are you using Pay-Per-Click?  If so, how is it working for your business.  Have you considered social media?

What are your thoughts?

Your Thoughts?

For a small business just starting out, budget is a primary concern. A big expenditure in a business’ budget is marketing.  You have to get your name, face and brand out to the masses, and using traditional advertising methods like print, TV, radio, and even new media strategies can be expensive.

Have you considered social media? I know there are a lot of questions out there about social media, how it works and why it’s a good gateway to business marketing, so here are a few reasons why I think it can be a great place to start for a small business.

1. It’s Free: When your on a budget, nothing beats free. The majority of social media outlets are free to use. Though there may be a time commitment, there is a great deal of value in the fact that marketing can be allocated elsewhere while you grow your business.

2. It’s Easy: Most social networking sites walk you step-by-step through the setup process and many even let you know how complete your profile is and what you can do to make it a more complete profile. For Blogging, WordPress has its Famous 5 Minute Install that for beginners can take longer but still very reasonable and straight forward when following instructions.

3. Unlimited Exposure: With Social Media platforms like Facebook averaging 25-30M new followers per month, the possibilities of exposing new potential customers and clients via social media eclipses rival marketing methods in the short and long term. You can’t search a TV or Billboard audience for potential connections.

4. It Builds Lasting Relationships: The sole purpose of using social media is engaging and building relationships. People want to do business with people they have a relationship with. Using social media platforms is an excellent way to build relationships that foster respect with your target audience. Lasting personal relationships, lasting business relationships!

5. SEO Power: When it comes too online presence, SEO is king. Everyone wants the Google Juice that puts them at the top of the charts. Blogging the right way can play a significant role your business’ search engine presence.

So what are you waiting for? Give FREE social media a try today. You wont regret it tomorrow and neither will your business!

Are you using social media to grow your business? I get a lot of questions from business owners and other busy professionals about how to develop strategies for business growth using social media. My goal has always been try to simplify the social networking equation, and through my calculations I have determined that social media can be simply describe down to a three step process that when implemented properly can explode your business online and in person.

Having a well developed social media profile on a website like LinkedIn or Facebook is the first step toward growing your online presence. Before you can attempt to share a single product or service online, you must first be able to sell yourself (branding if you will). Branding yourself as a person first and not a sales robot instantly creates a unimposing medium for your friends and potential customers to become aware of who you are and hopefully what you do.

Blogging is simply a medium for relevant material. And what is relevant is relative to the viewer. First you have to find out what is relevant to your target audience, then you use your blog to convert that material into a format that is attractive to them. The more relevant material you provide, the more your expertise becomes apparent and your popularity grows.

Cycle of Social Media

Finally, you need the website you probably already have. What you don’t know is that unless you have something and/or someone pointing to your website, you’re probably wasting valuable time and money that you put into it. Blogging and social media outlets do the pointing for you. On the surface, they give people a reason to want to know more about you. Beneath, they are a free way to lead the google spiders right to your website.

The key is constantly having your social media trifecta pointing at something of relevance. Your blogs and profiles should always be pointing at your website and vice versa. Constantly be looking for relevant links, events, and other info you can share with your target audience. When they see value in what you have to share, they will also see value in and want to do business with you.