New Media Marketing

New Media Marketing is a relatively new concept utilized by businesses in developing an online community. New Media Marketing holds to the premise that traditional advertising is losing its influence on consumers. Statistical evidence suggests a growing trend of consumers making purchasing decisions off Internet research and referrals. Consumers are more inclined to believe feedback from like-minded peers than corporate marketing verbiage dispersed through traditional television, radio, direct mail, or newspaper advertising. Social networking for businesses isn't for the faint of heart - you must be willing to be open to the possibility of negative feedback, but this should push you to provide excellent customer service and an excellent product that people will want to talk about!

New Media Marketing can consist of utilizing blogs, online forums, webcasts, product reviews, and tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, Youtube and others.

Learn More – Is it right for my business?

Is Twitter Right For My Business?

According to comScore Twitter is the fastest growing site on the web, growing 131% last month. Currently 88% of marketers are using social media tools like Twitter to grow their business. Twitter is revolutionizing the way businesses interact with their customers. When used properly, Twitter can be an extremely valuable marketing tool for businesses.

Some things to consider if you want to use Twitter:

Is your audience on Twitter? Try searching Twitter for your company name or product and see if people are already buzzing about it.
How will you use Twitter? Some companies use it for customer service, some use it to publicize their press releases and media clips, some tweet to drive sales and announce special deals, some monitor what customers are saying and use it for market research, some share links to interesting news, and some companies do all of the above.
Do you have time each day to devote to Twitter? Time must be spent forging new relationships and sending out "tweets" to your followers
Be interested in your followers - If you want to see real success with Twitter, you must show interest with followers and they must be interested in you, your company or product
Who within your organization is going to maintain Twitter? You can have multiple employees update it, just make sure everyone understands the goals and purpose of tweeting and building relationships with potential customers

Is Facebook Right For My Business?

Facebook has over 130 million active members and the number continues to grow at a phenomenal rate daily. Facebook, like the other social networks, requires you to make real connections with your friends if you want to create a successful campaign. You have to cultivate each relationship. Facebook has features such as "pages" which allow you to create business pages, organize events, etc. where users can become "fans". With Facebook, like other social networks, you need to be careful if you're mixing real friends and family with customers and prospects. The last thing you want is Aunt Sally posting something that could be embarrassing to you. In this case, maybe you want to create a profile for personal use, and create a page for your business. You want a profile that is interesting, engaging, and attracts your target audience.

Is Myspace Right For My Business?

Myspace may have not been the first, but it made social networking what it is today. Myspace, like all other social networks, is a great way to keep in touch with your customer or consumer base. For you and your business to be effective on Myspace, and all social networks for that matter, you must build real relationships with your new friends online. Like traditional marketing, you want to find your target consumer, and add them as a friend. Using tools that add as many people to your friends list as possible will not help you, in fact, it will alienate Myspacers. You must devote time to strategically selecting who you want to network with. It's a great way to build a following and put your brand or product in the minds of potential or current customers. Expose yourself; don't make it all about business. Treat your online friends and customers like you'd treat your actual friends, and you'll see greater success with social networking! You'll need to decide how much time each day will be devoted to Myspace, and who in your organization is responsible for chatting with friends, updating your photos and content, and so on.

Should I Be On LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a bit different than typical social networking sites. It's a professional's site. It's your professional resume. The great thing about LinkedIn is you can build a professional network where you can earn new business, make important business connections and show your expertise. It also helps if you're trying to learn more about a certain company, who is the CEO or XYZ, who is the marketing director, etc. LinkedIn has a Q&A section where experts (you!) can answer questions ranging from business, to finance, to marketing and anything in-between. Being considered an "expert" will help you generate new business and can lead to new followers on your blog, or other social networking site. You can also network with previous customers and get their recommendations posted on your profile, which also helps your credibility with new potential customers. Even if you decide the other social networking sites aren't for you, you really should be on LinkedIn.

Should My Business Post Videos on YouTube?

Creating quality videos that people will actually want to watch is hard. Very hard. Just uploading a video to YouTube is like dropping a grain of sand on the beach. The key to a great viral video is mastering the art of subtle marketing. You must produce great content, build a fan base and optimize your videos for search engines. Instead of creating "advertising", you must create something people want to watch. It's important to build a base of people who want to see your videos, and making sure they subscribe to alerts when you post new ones. You need to seek out people, blogs or websites who might be interested in your videos. A simple "check this out" anonymously will do the trick. It's important to make sure people can actually find your videos. Using clear titles, an accurate description and appropriate keywords will help get more views and show up in more searches. You can also "piggy-back" on other videos - posting video responses to other videos that have many views. Attach your videos to content that will travel instead of creating something with the hope that it might.

Should My Business Be Blogging?

YES. Everyone should have a blog. What are the benefits? It is fresh content. Your website will be stale without it. Each time you make a post, someone makes a comment, etc. it is updated with Google. It engages your users, creates conversation and can make you an authority figure in your field. You can also update your customers or prospects on products, services, company events, etc. It is important that you produce content on a regular basis. It could be every day, every other day, etc. but if you can create interesting, valuable content it can only help your website, brand and business. You can even hire iBot Web to produce content for you, ask us how.