Implementing Social Media Tactics

Check out this SlideShare Presentation on building networks and driving new business.

50 Social Media Tactics for Nonprofits

Check out this great presentation on Social Media strategies and tactics. Even though the presentation is geared towards nonprofit, anyone can learn a few new tips and tricks and apply it to their own business.

Video: The Social Media Guru

 So I thought I would share this very entertaining video on Social Media. The reason I found this video interesting enough to share - is because it DOES touch upon some very valid points and "misconceptions" that many have about Social Media and what exactly it is...and why they need it.

Check out the video below, please feel free to share your comments and feedback on this one!! Don't be shy - just Doit!

What is Social Media About?

Social Media is about, sharing and interacting online.

It's about giving value, being social and communicating with everybody who crosses your path through the Internet. Social media is about the people - it's about community building. It gives them a voice and grants them the power to change things and make decisions that can affect your company and brand, either in a profitable or harmful way.

In Social Media, communication is a two-way street, where public and brands interact, storing and distributing content created by all different natures. Social media's content allows you to take part, collaborate and distribute information to all.  Social Media strengthens the emotional ties that bind people together, creating fans instead of customers.

Social Media isn't ONLY about creating and sharing content. The best experiences you can achieve with Social Media is by listening, reading, discussing, blogging, commenting, and/or giving feedback to the community.

In short, social media is about building an effective communication channel between brands and their environment, helping them to merge a strategy in each social working area.

Why Social Media?

Using Social Media in business is today's reality in which today's environment demands. We're tired, we need change, we need to have fun, but above all we need brands to be authentic, reliable and truly inspiring. We live in an over-communicated society, where tones of messages try to gain a little of space in our minds, but now the wheel has changed hands. Those traditional advertising methods "I communicate - you receive" are no longer valid, that's water under the bridge. 

Social media allows companies to listen, understand and offer content that best meets their needs.

Advantages of using Social Media:

- Tapping into the younger audience to make it easier to predict trends
- Strengthens relationships between customers and brands
- Builds trust and loyalty, turning a customer into a fan
- Differs from other media reaching the audience in a less intrusive way
- Connects the brand with the immediate environment making your brand seem sociable, familiar and popular
- Goes viral: the brand will reach more people in less time.
- Increasing social media efforts raises the level of brand awareness online
- Social media is trustworthy and an efficient reasearch tool

Related Article: What is Social Media?

What is Social Media?

Social media is a phrase being tossed around a lot these days, but it can sometimes be difficult to answer the question of ... what EXACTLY is social media?

If Facebook and MySpace are social media sites, and Digg, reddit, and Newsvine are social media sites, and Wikipedia is a social media site, then just what is social media?

What is Social Media?

The best way to define social media is to break it down. Media is an instrument on communication, like a newspaper or a radio, so social media would be a social instrument of communication.

In Web 2.0 terms, this would be a website that doesn't JUST give you information, but interacts with you while giving you that information. This interaction can be as simple as asking for your comments or letting you vote on an article, or it can be more complex and can make recommendations based on the ratings of other people with similar interests.

Think of regular media as a one-way street where you can read a newspaper or listen to a report on television, but you have very limited ability to give your thoughts on the matter.

Social media is a two-way street that gives you the ability to communicate too.

What Are Some Social Media Websites?

Now that we have answered the question of what is social media, we can move on to social media websites. Because social media is such a broad term, it covers a large range of websites. But the one common link between these websites is that you are able to interact with the website and interact with other visitors.

Here are some examples of social media websites:

• Social Bookmarking. (Del.icio.us, Blinklist, Simpy) Interact by tagging websites and searching through websites bookmarked by other people.
• Social News. (Digg, Propeller, Reddit) Interact by voting for articles and commenting on them.
• Social Networking. (Facebook, Hi5, Last.FM) Interact by adding friends, commenting on profiles, joining groups and having discussions.
• Social Photo and Video Sharing. (YouTube, Flickr) Interact by sharing photos or videos and commenting on user submissions.
• Wikis. (Wikipedia, Wikia) Interact by adding articles and editing existing articles.

And these websites are not the only social media websites. Any website that invites you to interact with the site and with other visitors falls into the definition of social media.

Related Aticle: What is Social Media All About?

Publish Relevant Content in Directories

One great way to drive traffic to your blog and website is through publishing relevant articles and content in as many article directories as makes sense.

Here are a handful of free article directories to submit to:

• Ezine Article (http://www.ezinearticles.com)
• Article Dashboard (http://www.articledashboard.com)
• Go Article (http://www.goarticles.com)
• Search Warp (http://www.searchwarp.com)
• Amazines (http://www.amazines.com)
• Article Teller (http://www.articleteller.com)
• Article Alley (http://www.articlealley.com)
• Article OnRamp (http://www.articleonramp.com)
• Article-Gems (http://www.article-gems.com)
• Easy Articles (http://www.easyarticles.com)

Video Tutorials: Social Media 101

Introduction To Social Media

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What The F**K is Social Media?