Web Metrics and Social Media Marketing

Effective SEO leads to Revenue

Social Media Marketing Keys

Social media marketing allows businesses to create content on multiple social networking sites that engages and builds online communities which, in turn, facilitate the marketing message.

Keys to social media marketing comprise core principles and web metrics that will strengthen the company's position in terms of Search Engine Optimization, including:

• Creating content that flows and is easily shared.
• Utilizing multiple social media sites that always link back to the company’s website and blog, which ultimately helps SEO and SEM.
• Creating compelling content across multiple social media sites including YouTube and Slideshare. Remember, not everyone wants to read a 500-word essay.
• Visual communication is as important as written content. Utilize images and videos published on Facebook, Google+. Pinterest and Instagram.
• Share, share, and share with sharing buttons for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google+. Again, the more the content is shared across multiple social networking platforms, the higher in search rankings the company and its campaign will be found, further strengthening the company’s web metrics.
• Social media marketing is not a one trick pony. Simply creating a Facebook page is a risky approach and likely will not produce desired results for a marketing campaign.

With social media marketing, marketers want to develop strategies that clearly defines their audience and marketing goals. Once this has been completed, marketers can begin to implement those marketing tactics on multiple social media channels that have been determined to deliver results congruent with that strategy.

It is important to connect with people through a variety of social networks

 Some tips and tactics for social media marketing, an ever-evolving marketing platform:

1. Blog – Create a home base for content, such as the company’s website
2. Facebook – include visual content when publishing to the timeline and use it to build engagement with fans. Facebook continues to make changes. If the marketing team is not keeping up with these changes, the company’s page could get lost in the minutiae of Facebook marketing.
3. Twitter – Twitter recently has released numerous “user experience enhancements.” Subtly embedded in each are the building blocks of a better business plan. Twitter is slowly and incrementally improving advertiser reach on the service, one change at a time. Twitter now shares two different perspectives on new feature announcements with the official blog and the advertising blog — marking a shift towards advertiser opportunities versus user experience.
4. YouTube – Creating short videos - 15-30 seconds – will captivate and create buzz about the brand.
5. LinkedIn – Embrace the power of “Groups” on LinkedIn to position the company as an expert and thought leader.
6. Pinterest – At 10.4 million users, Pinterest is the fastest growing social media site in history. Pinterest has surpassed LinkedIn and Google+ in terms of referral traffic. Creating boards that suit the company’s product categories and have some visual sharing fun are keys to generating followers as well as driving traffic back to the company’s website.
7. Instagram – Make it personal and humanize the company’s brand.

Patience and Persistence

Like most marketing tools, social media marketing is not a quick fix. It needs to be built on the premise that a long term approach will create relationships with your customers that will continue to grow and build over time. Remember that utilizing web analytics will help provide the link between marketing, revenue, and consumers.

Social media marketing success depends on marketers being persistent and continuing to publish content that educates, informs, entertains and inspires current and future customers and develops and builds new relationships.