Article Submitted by Space Friender, Social Media Marketing Blog
Numerous articles have been written to cite the benefits or strategies of social media marketing for business. Yet there are very few that actually detail out steps to creating a successful social media marketing strategy, and which can be used as a thumb of rule time and time again.
Step #1: Declaration of Identity
This involves clearly defining who you are, what your value is and where your can be found online. This is done for the sole purpose of informing your customers how you can be of benefit to them. LinkedIn, Ziki and ClaimID are some examples.
Step #2: Identity through Association
This is where the customer associates themselves with your brand by “friending” you, social bookmarking or subscribing for your BlogRoll. StumbleUpon, Furl and Ma.gnolia are some example of where the customer is able to declare their association with you.
Step #3: User-initiated Conversation
This happens most commonly on groups such as Yahoo, Google and AOL Groups where users are able to ask questions or make declarations, and you have to serve them by catering to their questions or needs. Message boards and forums are also examples of this kind of conversation.
Step #4: Provider-initiated Conversation
This is where the service provider will initiate a conversation with its users to find out whether they love or hate their service. Current.tv is probably a shining example of this, while not even being an online company. MySpace, BeBo and Friendster are other examples.
Step #5: In-Person Interaction
Just because you communicate with your customers online that doesn’t mean you can’t do it in person as well. Sites like Upcoming, Eventful can help you find local event or organize your own if you wish to do so.
