Suze Bragg

Part 5 of social media marketing: evaluate online channel strategies

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Larry Weber, a renowned marketing and public relations expert, lists 4 types of online marketing channels, or conduits as he refers to them.  They are: reputation aggregators, blogs, e-communities and social networks.  Broken down further, reputation aggregators are search engines that use an algothrim to determine where and how you rank in their search profile (ie, Google, Yahoo).  Blogs, as you know, can influence purchasing decisions, behaviors and your reputation.  E-communities are websites that people join and visit regularly (the creators hope) for information, discussions and other interactions (Cafe Mom, iVillage).  Social networks are a forum/website that build on people's desires to interface with each other and start dialogues (Facebook, MySpace). 

So how do you market in these channels?
The answer is with a good strategy, and in the case of e-communities and social networks, very carefully.

1.  There are 2 ways to market with search engines (AKA reputation aggregators):  unpaid (search engine optimization) or paid (adwords/keyword advertising).  You can read more about implementing both of these by visiting 10 steps for beginning SEO on your website and

2. There are 3 ways to market with blogs: write one yourself, post on other blogs in your industry and have bloggers write about your business/products.  Check out 9 tips for blogging success to get started with your own blog.  Check out #3 below for more tips...

3.  There are 2 ways to market with e-communities: create one yourself (usually costs quite a bit of $$$) and join one yourself.  As in blogs, since you run or work in a small business, you possess valuable information that others are looking for.   If you specialize in organic baby gear, visit one of the mother communities and lend advice on what to buy, what to look for, and what to avoid.  Visit the sites you discovered in part 1 and beginning commenting.   I discovered, based on experience, that once you visit and respond on other sites, people tend to come visit yours.   Remember to keep it positive and informative.  The best and most effective marketing is a dialogue.

4.  Marketing on social networks is the hardest, but it can be done effectively by small businesses.  If you have a good (not boring) commercial or video, upload it on YouTube.  Another way is to create your profile for your business and invite people/customers to join.  Instead of selling to them, use it as an information tool to spread coupons, advice, parties/openings, or a donation drive.  People respond well to companies that do something beneficial for the social good.  Sponsor a fundraiser to build a playground in your area, clean up the street, etc. and have people help your raise money.  If you specialize in B2B with your business, join LinkedIn and invite others to connect with you (this is an easy way to network). 

Remember, with places like MySpace or Facebook, if you try to do a hardsell, it will backfire on you and people will blog about how horrible they think you are. 

Posted by Suze Bragg on April 22, 2008 | Comments (3)