Getting Started in Social Media Marketing: Joining the Conversation
"Getting started in social media marketing is as simple as joining the conversation."
Joining the conversation is about treating your customers the same way you'd treat your friends. Listen to them, ask how they're feeling, send them a card on their birthday and show an interest in what their other friends are up to. Tell them what you're doing, show them photos and videos, know what they are interested in, know what excites them and ask their advice when you need help. The more you listen, the more you'll both get out of the relationship.
Joining the conversation is easy. You can start right now just by paying attention to what people are saying and letting them know you're listening. It could be as easy as putting an email address for customer feedback on your website, as fun as setting up a Facebook page for your company or as cool as setting up Twitter feeds for a few of your employees. We're here to help you get started in social media marketing by creating the technical tools and then helping you implement strategies that identify what is being said, show you exactly who is doing the talking and help you generate more business by listening.
Some of the things we can do, right now, to help you join the conversation include:
- Find bloggers who talk about the industry you're in and introduce them to you.
- Help you setup you own company blog (one that people actually want to read).
- Find forums where people are mentioning your products and services.
- Set up forums and social networks which allow you to own the dialogue that takes place around your brand.
- Find podcasters with an audience and we might encourage you to send them something so they know you're listening.
- Show you how you can use Twitter to give your clients insight into what your company's employees get up to each day.
- Help you overhaul your online customer service so that people love interacting with you and feel like they get a response worth telling their friends about.
- Build you a Facebook page or start an online community where your customers can interract with each other, share their experiences and know that you are listening.
- Make sure it's easy for people to add you to social Bookmarking sites like Del.icio.us, Digg and Reddit.
- Get you started on YouTube and Flickr.
- Make sure your company directors look like gods on LinkedIn.
- Make sure your Wikipedia entry reflects your best work and greatest achievements. If you have skeletons in the closet we make sure they have their best clothes on when they're taken out.