Leveraging Social Media October 14, 2009

Learning how to Tweet and putting up a Facebook page won't help extend brand awareness or sales without a strategy in place that uses the social media platforms to build a "funnel" that drives traffic.

A picture is worth a thousand words and the graphic may help clarify my explanation.  An effective social media campaign leverages all marketing activities to gain the most exposure.

Although the graphic doesn't show arrows pointing between each platform, that's part of a leverage strategy.  Twitter should reference YouTube.  Posts made to Twitter should be included in Facebook and vice versus.  Blogs should be added to the wall of the website and referenced in Twitter.  If a special event or sale is announced on Twitter, it would be good to send an email and use a Follow me on Twitter link.  The website should reference the Twitter accounts and the latest Tweets should also appear on the website.  There are applications out there that automate much of this process.  Not all applications are created equal and it might be best to consult with a social media expert to determine the most reliable applications for automation.

I'm not perfect and to be honest, I don't always stay on top of each of the activities and post as frequently as I should but I do post on a regular basis and automate and leverage all my posts to various locations to leverage what I am able to do.

Before you begin your foray into the wild world of social media, I'd advise spending a little money to have a social media consultant help you develop a strategy that will maximise your efforts.

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