Social media marketing is the process of promoting your site or
business through social media channels and it is a powerful strategy
that will get you links, attention and massive amounts of traffic.
There is no other low-cost promotional method out there that will
easily give you large numbers of visitors, some of whom may come back
to your website again and again.
If you are selling products/services or just publishing content for
ad revenue, social media marketing is a potent method that will make
your site profitable over time.
Those who ignore the efficacy of social media usually fall into
three categories; the ones who don’t know much or anything about social
media, the ones who are interested but don’t know how to use it and
those who don’t believe in the value that a social media strategy can
bring to any site or business.
The Value of Marketing Through Social News Websites
Image Credit: Poster Web 2.0
For those who don’t understand or see the value of social media websites, let’s take a look at the benefits of creating viral content and effectively promoting them through social media channels.
Developing link baits
and successfully getting it popular on various social media websites
like Digg and StumbleUpon will lead to multiple benefits for any
website:
- Primary and Secondary Traffic. Primary traffic is
the large amount of visitors who come directly from social media
websites. Secondary traffic is referral traffic from websites which
link to and send you visitors, after they come across your content
through the social sites.
- High Quality Links. Becoming popular on social
news websites like Digg or Reddit will get you a large number of links,
some of which may be topically relevant, some not. A good story can
realistically acquire a large number of high quality editorial links,
most of which cannot be easily bought.
Now let’s translate this into tangible benefits for your website:
1. Links = Better Search Engine Rankings.
When a website receives a large number of natural, permanent links
from trusted domains, it develops authority. Search engines trust it.
If you optimize your linkbait and website structure properly, you can
easily start ranking for competitive keywords, which will in turn bring
in search engine visitors.
Do this often enough and your search traffic will undoubtedly
increase. In a sense, you are obtaining these quality links through borrowed trust.
Many bloggers and webmaster still think that if an article is on the
Digg or del.icio.us homepage, then it’s probably worth checking out and
referencing through a citation link.
A new website may find it difficult to gain links from a critical
mass that is not familiar with it but a trusted social news resource
makes it easier for links to come in, because the community and buzz
has somewhat ‘certified‘ the value of the site. Note that the actual strength of the article is still of utmost importance for all.
2. Primary + Secondary Traffic = Community/Supporters.
Some people claim that social news websites only send useless
traffic, visitors that will often just view a specific webpage and
click away. Yes, that’s usually the case. Sites like Digg are notorious
for their poor bounce rates: many visitors drop in for the article and
then leave after reading it. StumbleUpon is much better in this aspect.
But don’t mistake this with a lack of interest.
Your subscriber figures will often take big jump up and then stabilize
after a few days. If your entire site is relevant to the general
interests of the social media website, there will always be a handful
of social users who will start to track your site in order to submit
future content.
Detractors also ignore the power of ultra targeted secondary traffic.
General sites or blogs in the same niche will link to a story that’s
popular on social sites, because it adds value for their readers or
users. This is done naturally on a daily basis for many.
While primary traffic usually comes in a larger volume, I would argue that secondary traffic is more valuable.
Why? Because links from other websites bring visitors who are very
likely to be interested in your content. These citation links
demonstrate recognition of your site in the eyes of others. It builds
your brand.
Think of the social news site as a platform or a soapbox. As
something that gives you a chance to be heard or read, even for a brief
moment of a few hours. The people who are drawn to your message will
visit your site and recommend it to others.
Four Reasons to Practice Social Media Marketing
Image Credit: Poster Web 2.0
Why bother exploring social media as a marketing channel for your
website or business? After all, you could stick to link exchanges,
search advertising or the purchase of banner and editorial ads on
relevant sites.
Here are some reasons why you should consider using social media:
- It’s natural. Not only do you get natural links
without any discernible pattern, your website is exposed to large
groups of people in a spontaneous fashion. This differs from paid
advertising which has overt commercial overtones.
- It’s defensible. Once successfully mastered,
social communities can be a great source of web traffic on top of any
traffic you are already receiving from search engines. While you can’t
easily increase your search engine traffic, social media traffic can be
very easily controlled through strategic marketing.
- It’s low-cost/high returns. If done by yourself,
costs are limited to only time and perhaps the expenses involved in
hiring a freelance programmer/designer. The benefits will often exceed
the cost. It would take you thousands of dollars to buy many links;
social media has the ability to give you that for free.
- It complements other efforts. Social media
optimization and marketing is usually community-specific. It doesn’t
interfere with any other methods of getting traffic to your website. It
can and will fit perfectly with an advertising campaign targeting other
websites or search engines.
So How Does Social Media Help Me to Make Money?
It doesn’t. At least not directly. Every site or business that wants to expand and become profitable, needs a core group of supporters who will be willing to make purchases or recommend the site to others. Your site needs to perpetuate itself.
The more supporters you have, the faster word spreads about your
site. Social media marketing is an excellent way to get people to come
into your site to take a look at at what you have to offer. You will
grow when there are a group of loyal visitors ready to always act upon
what you have to offer.
Because social media websites can be leveraged for links and better
search rankings, they can greatly increase your site’s income
potential. For example, you will be able to price ads higher or
generate revenue from any paid business models.
Why Bloggers Should Learn How to Use Social Media
Image Credit: Climate Change Protest
There are many ways to build a popular blog
and many methods to promote your website. For example, you can start
leaving comments regularly on many high traffic blogs in your niche or
perhaps, consider guest posting on other bigger blogs.
My marketing strategy for blogs is very simple. I don’t comment
actively, hold contests or write guest posts. I’ve never done any of
that for any blog I’ve ever set up. Some people might enjoy doing it
but its just a little too tedious for me.
What I do instead is strategic. I focus on creating just one excellent blog post, which I will then push through social media sites and email pitches to other bloggers.
This is straightforward and I don’t have to run around many blogs
putting up my URL and thinking of something insightful to say.
Think about it. Why write 50 guest posts for 50 different blogs when
you can easily just write one article and get an equal amount of links
and greater traffic through the use of social media? Guest posting
builds relationships but I reckon there are many more powerful ways to
network with others.
It isn’t just about creating articles and then promoting them on
social sites as an afterthought. It’s about putting social media in the
center of your marketing strategy, optimizing your site or content and making it an attention magnet.
Social Media and It’s Potential for Your Site: An Example
I recently launched a new blog a months ago and took around 20 hours
to create a feature article. I subsequently promoted it on various
social websites through my own influencer profiles. I also sent out emails to large sites in the same niche.
The article eventually got to the Digg, del.icio.us and Reddit
frontpage and received over 140+ reviews on StumbleUpon. It accumulated
well over 800 unique links, including some from very heavily trafficked
websites. Some of them alone sent more traffic than the frontpage of del.icio.us.
The article is more than a month old and it is still receiving
incoming links. Subscribers are up by over 800% and I received around 12K pageviews everyday for the first month. Bear in mind this is only a one month old site.
While not every article in every niche will receive the same amount
of attention or success, this illustrates the great potential of social
media. I’ve become a firm believer in having a solid social media
strategy for every website I develop. It is important for success on
every level, even for sites that are already popular.
Fundamentals of Social Media Marketing: An Article Series
Image Credit: johnxlewis
Social media marketing is not difficult at all. It is something
every one can do with some effort and knowledge. It isn’t some secret
art form that only experts can master. Unlike other skills, social
media has a remarkably low barrier of entry. Everyone is invited to the party. No one is excluded.
I know how social media works. I know what type of content/bait
works for different websites. I know what type of marketing strategy to
adopt for a high possibility of success. This knowledge is something
you can acquire yourself too.
Now that I’ve illustrated the value of social media, a step by step
introduction to social media websites and the appropriate marketing
strategies to adopt is in order. I plan to start an article series on DIY social media marketing, to teach absolute beginners and bloggers/webmasters what they need to do for social media success.
Some of the advanced social media strategies I have
in mind might not be appropriate for a large audience as they can be
extremely intricate; unless you’re an active user of the site, it
probably isn’t something you’ll appreciate reading about.
I might consider setting up some private newsletters or forums for
these advanced tactics, so those who are serious about learning about
them can opt-in and we can discuss them away from the public arena.
More details later on.
I’m quite sure most of you will find this article series useful so
if you have any specific topics you want to see addressed, feel free to
drop your query in the comments.
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