Social media marketing hasn’t replaced search engine marketing, but it is acknowledged as a larger portion of potential web site traffic than it was in the past. Social media continues to grow and twice Google has tried to develop their own social network in an attempt to compete.

For small businesses, it is important that they do not get left behind and learn to harness the power of social media marketing.

Don’t Stagnate on the Web
A company web site can be a stagnant thing. The site is designed, content written, the site launches. And then what? Unless a site receives regular updates in the form of fresh content about new products or services, or has a regularly updated blog, it is easy for site visitors to get the idea that the business is now longer even operational. Updates matter.

Expand Beyond A Single Source of Online Marketing
The ultimate online destination for potential and existing customers should be your web site. This is where you have complete control over the marketing message, the product/service mix and how you present it. You’re not governed by other sites dictating how you present your business to the world.

Beyond your own site, it is important to be seen on the web at strategic locations so that potential clients view your brand and have heard of it a few times before they might consider clicking through. This is similar to research that showed it was necessary to see the same product promotion several times before consumers considered changing brand loyalty.

Facebook-ing
With Facebook, open up a business page (we can do this for you). Put a face and a brand to what you and your business actually do. Facebook does well in search engine results because it’s one of the busiest sites in the world right now. This can change, but presently Facebook is a great source of traffic leads.

Having content written that speaks to your core market and posting it on a Facebook account is a good way to give your business a voice outside of your own blog. Aim content more at your potential customers, not your peer group. Why? Because your peer group aren’t buying your services.

Tweeting
Twitter is still a good way to put out pithy comments that can get the point across well. Adding the Twitter RSS feed to your site can add fresh content too. We can help with that.

With Twitter, it is a good idea to share your latest content, posts, products and services to the world. Post about this information and link through to your site.

It is also smart to read up in your industry and tweet about other content that caught your eye recently. Point out things that your past, existing and future customers would appreciate hearing about.

Don’t keep it to yourself. Sharing this shows that you’re on the ball and have a good sense of their needs, not just your own.

Get Some Interest From Pinternet
With areas of business that have good visual ideas, try pinning some photos to Pinterest. See if some of this photographic content catches a few eyes and wait to see if the photos get re-pinned on other Pinterest boards.

Get creative about what visitors may want to see. Humour is effective in this social media site. Photo don’t have to be about you or your brand. They can be funny moments, odd moments or just things that caught your eye.

Pinterest is presently used as a pin board or scrapbook more by women than men, so bear this in mind when posting images.

Keep A Keen Eye
New social media sites are cropping up all the time. Keep an eye out with your friends and ask what they are using. You’ll hear about new apps and new social sites that they’re excited about using. These get big fast. Getting in on the ground floor with a good start can be an excellent way to get a foothold quickly with this new audience segment.

Get Creative
Be creative with your thinking about how you can use social media to share your story, your brand, your business, your employees or your humour. It is often surprising what items on social media go viral. Hard to predict but huge when they do.

Keep It Polite
Don’t get drawn into disagreements or a flame war. Too many people will take the other person’s side and the brand reputation may not recover. It’s a big world out there. Some people will disagree with you. Occasionally, with a lot of vigour and vim behind it. Engage with an audience when you want to and step back when you need to.

Make it fun, but don’t let social media become a time drain. Be genuine, but also try to be a little strategic as well. You still have a business to run, don’t you?