SMM

BASIC TERMS AND WAYS OF PROMOTION

Social Media Marketing (SMM) is a type of internet marketing which uses the benefits of social networking sites as a tool of promoting websites, thus increasing traffic towards them and learning from users’ direct reactions.

SMM is based on the principle of organic search, which basically means that when the website or its connected social network page is more active, the website’s position on search engines rises, i.e. it will be in seen the first few results.

Considering the fact that 90% of users searching the internet do not look any further than the first page of the search engine, and that 70% clicks on the first three results only, it is obvious that the position on the first page of the search engine is the only goal to strive for when optimizing a website.

WHAT IS SMM USED FOR?

The main goal of SMM is to improve communication with users, increase brand visibility and reach more (potential) customers.

SMM is being done by creating quality content that the users of social networks share with their friends (via transmitting information electronically, i.e. Electronic Word of Mouth, or eWoM).

The point of SMM is to obtain direct feedback from users (or potential customers), so that the company gets a personal stamp at the same time, i.e. it appears more human-like.

By means of interactive options on social networks, the customers get the chance to be heard, either by asking questions or by making complaints.

This type of SMM is called Social Customer Relation Management (Social CRM), which can further lead to enhancing credibility and return on investment (ROI), of course, if the users are satisfied with content, relationship with the company and the service provided.

HOW TO USE SMM?

Social Media Marketing functions on the principle of Social Media Optimization (SMO), i.e. the improvement of company image on social networks.

Similarly to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), SMO attracts new, unique visitors to the targeted website.

Why would search engines care for social networks? Simply because many people use their social media to search for things, share links and thereby participate in building a strong network of links (link building campaign).

SMM, that is SMO, can be done in two ways:

• Active SMM promotion
• Passive SMM promotion

ACTIVE SMM PROMOTION

Active promotion means adding links (applications) which lead from the content on the website towards social networks (similarly to RSS and social media share buttons). Social networks which can be used as a means of SMM are the following:

Facebook

Twitter

Google+

LinkedIn

Instagram

YouTube

Pinterest

Each social network has its own Terms of Use, which i different for natural persons and legal entities, i.e. companies.

What only companies get is the option of launching a paid ad campaign so as to reach wider audiences, thus improving traffic towards a website or a targeted web page.

PASSIVE SMM PROMOTION

Passive promotion means promoting activities on social networks by updating statuses, publishing images, tweets or articles on blogs.

Users’ reactions can be further analyzed in order to solve problems and remove dissatisfaction, and improve their brand experience.

What is useful especially is that that information is obtained in real time, which speeds up the entire process and opens the door to a new dimension of cooperation.

10 steps to a practical social media business strategy

1. Create a mission statement -- What are your top-level objectives for applying social media and Web 2.0? And how will you achieve them? Ideally, this can be boiled down to one statement, articulating both the vision and where you aim to focus in terms of specific strategies. Don’t skip – or skimp on – this one; it’s important.

2. Assign owners – Who will take the mission, build the team, secure the budget, identify the tools needed? And who will own each channel, like LinkedIn, Twitter, your blog, etc., as you scale up the program? In about half of the organizations we have looked at, marketing owns social media, but this is mostly because early social business tended to focus on marketing or online commerce first.

3. Outline employee policies -- Do you have a corporate social media handbook, with policies, style guides and guidance for employees looking to participate (on behalf of the company) in public forums and social sites? And as you roll out new social business tools, beyond creating awareness – see below – how will you encourage new behaviors and even innovative uses for these social tools?

4. Identify existing communities -- Where are discussions taking place now? For consumer products, they may take place on Amazon or Facebook, while business topics may originate on LinkedIn or internal forums. But it’s also likely that most discussions will span multiple social (and traditional) channels and involve both user-generated and enterprise content. Your social business strategy will need to address all of these!

5. Create a marketing plan -- How will you promote and roll out your new (or existing) social capabilities? Will word-of-mouth marketing be sufficient? Also, a training plan, incentives and recognition programs for frequent posters to communities and moderators will be needed.

6. Develop individual channel strategies -- Depending on which channels best fit the goals of your social business strategy, it’s important to look at the “role” and “tone” of each, think about cross-links (e.g., Facebook promotion back to your corporate blog) and leverage monitoring and benchmarking tools for tracking discussions, sentiment and your current “influence.” For example, Twitter Grader is a good way to see how you stack up in the world of Twitter.

7. Develop community strategies and programs – How will you support existing communities via new social business tools and encourage the widest number of users to share, publish and comment on information, whether it exists inside or outside the enterprise? In addition, what is needed to measure reputation and enable a trust model that scales across all communities?

8. Develop your platform strategy -- As companies look to integrate social channels with core business processes, a growing number are turning to social business software (SBS) platforms like those from Jive, OutStart or RightNow via its HiveLive acquisition. In evaluating these options, it is important to outline enterprise requirements (built-in expertise location, mobile access, etc.) and dependencies to help you scale from individual communities to enterprise collaboration and social networking.

9. Create a social business dashboard -- What metrics will you use to show the ROI for your programs? In the customer service arena, reduced costs from avoided calls or email and higher customer satisfaction are two proven measures to start with. For enterprise use of Web 2.0 in other areas, improved information sharing and lower communication costs are additional benefits that could be measured and tracked.

10. Publish an action plan -- What tactics are needed to fulfill your social business vision over the next 12 to 18 months? Typically, these plans start with management activities (steps 1, 2, 3 and 9), marketing-oriented tasks (steps 4, 5 and 6), content and community development (steps 4 and 7) and technology rollout (steps 7 and 8). Ideally, for each tactic, you want to articulate specific skills needed, timeframes and dependencies, and field trials to test assumptions and readiness for proceeding with subsequent phases.