Social Media: Evolving strategies in 2011

For most of us, a new year brings a lot of promises; it offers a chance to start anew, and brings about countless opportunities for growth. And so it’s been a tradition for so many people to start lists of things in their lives they need to change; a New Year resolution so to speak. Those being more realistic prefer to make lists of goals to achieve; some have even mapped out a year’s worth of activities they need to accomplish. Brands can gain so much from doing these, with regard to their online marketing strategies. Well, some already do by way of marketing plans, but sometimes even these get skewed by so many things. So it’s best to aim to be ahead of the curve by keeping things in perspective, stepping back a little to see the bigger picture, and keeping your head in the game. Here are some good resolutions that can help brands get better results in social media marketing, and goals we, as online marketers and brand managers, ought to think about.
 
Migrate From Outdated Strategies

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Marketing is such a dynamic field that it’s constantly in evolution. While there may be “time-tested” and “proven successful” campaign strategies brands have been using for ages, traditional marketing is slowly moving to the cloud. And it’s proving to be quite a wise decision too, as we’ve seen many brands with their own successes online.
Social media marketing offers better coverage, delivering and enhancing brand awareness, product offerings and client engagements to a broader stage. So yes, those huge billboards have transitioned into e-mail marketing campaigns, while TV ads have moved on into virally distributed Web videos. Now is a good time as any to adapt to the changing landscape and get off your traditional marketing-driven backside and explore social media if you haven’t already.  

Be On The Lookout and Adapt to Changes

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As marketers, most of us are so used to the regular changes that come to the online platform. And they come frequently, and in hordes too; so much so that your original prospects may end up looking like some badly concocted chili.

Because of this, it’s important to keep an eye open for trends in the best practices and new technologies and adapt your strategies accordingly. The tricky part here is finding what is truly future-proof amid the social media noise.


Leverage on the Up-and-Coming Brandish your sense of foresight, and sniff out the oncoming trends, the best practices and developing social media standards. In content creation, this may mean utilizing memes, and the freshest news to create compelling articles that will really engage your readers. Get onboard before they start gaining trajectory, so to speak, for better marketing traction. These will help you and your brand stay relevant and develop an easy recall with your audience.

Invest in Future-proof Tech Technology marches on, and along with it comes countless new Web-based services, software tools and even hardware for you and your brand to stay on top of any given situation. This may hardly be marketing, but think of it as the back-end that will help you gain your demographic’s trust with your site and service reliability, and can help develop brand loyalty among them. There are two good areas where leveraging on new tech advancements becomes crucial:


 In-house Data Infrastructure Investments to beef up your in-house technologies will definitely benefit brands. For one, it’ll ensure your site/s’ uptime and your crew’s productivity, which makes for better delivery of your products and services, and keeps the CRM in tip-top shape to serve your clients. This includes servers, employee computers, development software, security suites and even cloud storage, among others. 

Service and News Delivery Like most brands with an online presence, you should be able to utilize and take advantage of the many online tools to deliver your products, services and news to engage with your followers. Platforms like microblogs, messaging clients, blogging services and app development are among the most used nowadays, allowing you to reach your targeted demographic on multiple platforms.
Original Article By Social Media Marketing