Top Ten Social Media Marketing Tip for 2011

Alright, we’re going to do this Letterman style counting down from “10” to “#1”. Get

creative, implement and have an awesome 2011!

#10

Twitter Info Background -

Create a background with PURPOSE. There’s so

many individuals and businesses I see out there with a twitter account and probably

95% of them don’t take the time to optimize their twitter pages. They’ll have generic“Twitter” made background or they might go as far as uploading their company’s logo

and creating a tiled background. How about some info PLEASE!!! Twitter only gives youa few details you can enter. Basically 140 characters of text about who you or your

business is and what your website is. That’s it! So you can cheat a little and create a

custom twitter background. You can create a cool looking background that displaysaddition information about you, your company, perhaps some additional links and wherepeople can find you online (i.e. Facebook, YouTube, LinkeIn, your blog, etc.) Check outhttp://FreeTwitterDesigner.com for an easy way to do this. Also, try to keep your webpresence consistent. Use similar colors that you have on your website and branding.Use the same picture that you use in Facebook Profile or Facebook Page picture. Theidea is to have consistent presence across the web to build an element of trust with yourviewer.

Link Your Blog - Link your blog to your Facebook Profile, your Facebook Page oryour LinkedIn Profile. Me I really like to get people to come to my blog to find mycontent. I put a lot of work into it and like sh

owing it off; but, what I like isn’t what my

readers like best. What matters most is that I get as many people exposed to me and

my utter brilliance (yeah, I know I’m stretching a bit here) as I

possibly can. Do I care if apotential client comes through my blog, my Facebook account, my Twitter or LinkedIn

for that matter?.... Hell No! that’s like asking someone if they’d like to receive a $1000 in$50 bills or $100 bills. When it comes down to it. You’ll take either. So if your writing a

blog already. Make sure that content gets out there. Take the little extra time to link yourblog to your Facebook Profile, Page or your Linkedin Profile.

Go Mobile - Take your marketing mobile with QR Codes. Have you seen them.

They’re like a little square mess of dig

ital dots. You may have send them on products atmajor retailers by now. There like the next generation of barcodes. Cool thing is thistechnology is available to anyone. Yes, anyone can create their own custom QR codes.And, anyone with a smartphone (roughly 50 million users in America and growing fast)

Top Ten Social Media Marketing Tip for 2011

can scan a QR codes to find out more information about that product or pamphlet ornewspaper ad or brochure or postcard or business card..... you get the point! You canset up a your own QR code using the free tools at qrcode.kaywa.com or zxing.appspot.com/generator.Set one up with your contact information, or links to yourwebsite, links to your products page, or real estate listing. One application specific tosocial media is create a QR code that sends people to your Facebook Page orFacebook Profile or Twitter or LinkedIn. Did you know that over 50% Facebook traffic isaccessed through mobile devices. Big opportunity here.

Broadcast Live - Another extremely cool way out can engage your customers,clients and potential client leads is by providing a service through live broadcasting.

There’s a couple websites out there like Justin.Tv, Ustream or Livestream that allow you

to basically host your own TV show. Use one of these services and host a 30 minute oran hour long question and answer session where you share your knowledge. Or eachweek or each month grab someone from your local business community or perhaps a

client and interview them on “What the Heck They’re Doing Right in Life or in Business”

(maybe you should think of a better title). Key is provide something valuable. Also, anextra cool (wink, wink) feature you should know, many of these live streaming servicesallow you to embed your streaming player right on your website. Additionally they recordtoo. So do a 30 minute call, answer four questions, download and cut up the video into

four separate segments, now you’ve got a

month worth of videos you can post to yourblog!

Spread your Video Wings - Post to sites other than YouTube. Did you evenknow there was other video hosts out there besides YouTube? For many of us the

answer is “NO” but, if you your note posting to other video sites out there you’repotential missing out on FREE traffic. Now there’s a way to post to literally dozens of

video hosting websites (including Facebook) with the click of a but

ton! You’ve already

done the work of making the video. So go ahead and post to as many as you can usingTubeMogul.com. Using TubeMogul you can set up accounts with all the available videohosting sites out there and then upload your video and simply click

“publish.” Withinminutes you’ll be getting free traffic from other sources all with this simple tool

Provide a Service - You need to engage potential customers and clients in socialmedia and on the web in general. No matter what industry you're in

you’ve got

Top Ten Social Media Marketing Tip for 2011

something very valuable that many people would love to grab. Your Knowledge. So,provide a service to your Facebook friends or fans. Provide a service to your blogreaders or your website visitors. Answer your blog readers questions each week. Or forexample, you're a travel agent, uses your skills and regularly post the best travel deals

to your blog, facebook page or twitter account. Or you’re an investment manager,routinely post some hot stock tips or potholes for investors to avoid, You’re a

n ice creamshop owner, post a discount each week for people to come and try the new PineappleChoke Cherry Banana Fiasco favor your offering at your shop this week. Provide avaluable service that gives people a reason to come back to your blog, Facebook Pageor Twitter Profile.

Listen to the Web - Set up a Social Media Listening Station. Using GoogleReader, iGoogle or even NetVibes you can setup a social media listening station. Thesedays it pays to know what people are saying about you, your company, your products oryour service. People tweeting, blogging commenting about you can be great or

damaging. It’s good to listen in and be prepared. If you go to Twitter Search you can

search on virtual any topic, including your name, and see what people are saying. If you

look in the upper right corner of Twitter Search you’ll see “Feed for this query” click on it

and plug it into your Reader, iGoogle or NetVibes account. Do this for any term youwish. Then just check back with your Reader, iGoogle or Netvibes account any time youwant to check on the latest tweets for your preferred terms. Also, try Google

Discussions and Google Realtime once you’ve searched a term go down to the bottomof the first page of search results. Look for and click on “Stay up to

date on these

results: Create an email alert for YOUR TERM.” On the follow page it will ask you if you

want alerts of your chosen search term sent to your email or you can have it create an

RSS feed for you. Simply change “Delivery to:” setting to “Feed” and click “Create alert.”You can then plug the feed into iGoogle or NetVibes or you can simply click “View inGoogle Reader.” Create these alert feeds for all your terms you’d like to follow.

Facebook Ads to Facebook Page -

Don’t have many friends? Don’t have anymore people you can bug to “Like” your page? Create a Facebook Ad and send clicks

directly to your Facebook Page. Combine this with the Hidden Content trick or a

Facebook Contest mentioned below and you’ve got a winning combination. Test a

variety of different catchy ads to find the most compelling copy-

writing. Once you’ve

found the best copy and you plan on running the ad on a regular basis, be sure to