Social Media Marketing Basics 1

While the number of people participating in the world of Social Media is staggering (about 500 million for Facebook, 300 million for YouTube and say 100 million for Twitter) there seem to be just as many choices to be made, platforms to be considered and tools to be mastered. It is a lot to take in, and learn and try.

Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin all acting as funnels to pass
people through to your blog.

But it really is not as daunting as all that (yes, I just set up my own straw man so I could knock it down). Really, to start, there are only four platforms to consider. These are your blog, Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter.

Your blog is your main site. It is where you tell people about you, who you are, what services and/or products you offer, how to find you and your store (either on the web or brick and mortar or both). The blog is the cornerstone of your virtual empire. It is your location on the internet.

There is a lot more to come on your blog and blogging in general.

The other three platforms, Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin are all conduits. From each platform you are looking to gain Contacts (Linkedin), Followers (Twitter) and Friends (Facebook) or to be Liked (Facebook again).  Once you have made the connection on these platforms you try to move them to your blog. Once there they can discover the complete you and, hopefully, sooner or later, make a purchase of a product and/or service or add value in some way to your business.

This is not as cynical as it sounds at first read through. Business in general is about developing relationships. Twitter. Linkedin and Facebook are simply means to develop a relationship. Moving that relationship to your blog is simply further developing that relationship. You can make a sale at any point in the relationship and there are some relationships that will never lead to a sale.

The first step, therefore, on the road to Social Media Marketing is setting up your blog and accounts with Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook. In order to set up your accounts in the most efficient manner possible, you are going to need to define what you hope to gain through your Social Media Marketing efforts (making millions, while an understandable end, is not a great goal to start with). You are also going to need to determine what I will call your voice. Your voice is a coherent, systematic and consistent appearance across all Social Media platforms. Another term for Voice is Brand. I just find the term Brand a little more intimidating.

I will be going through specifics on your blog, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and your Branding or Voice in upcoming posts.