Social Media Optimization Services

You may not be interested in social media, but social media is interested in you.

People have always talked about products, services, and organizations; the difference is now those conversations are recorded and easily joined by anyone in the world. Isn't it better to be a part of that conversation than ignore it?

When asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton pointed out the obvious by replying, "Because that's where the money is."

Why optimize social media? Because that's where the audience is. From MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn to YouTube, Flickr, Digg and del.icio.us, to blogs and podcasts, social networking sites enjoy ready made communities within which you can participate. Go to where the people are and speak in their own language.

Social Network Marketing: MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, and a host of smaller niche social networking sites have become extraordinarily popular. These sites allow their users to connect to one another in a myriad of ways, allowing similar and like-minded people to find one another based on geography, interests, industries, or schools. These sites offer extraordinary opportunities to communicate with very specifc groups of people. And social networking isn't just for kids anymore: the older-than-25 crowd is the fastest growing segment for MySpace and Facebook.

Viral Video Marketing : Viral video marketing is the gift that keeps on giving! Once optimized, uploaded video will often just keep attracting self-selected viewers who are highly likely to be interested in your content, products or services. If you have existing video assets such as old commercials or training video, you can put them back to work by uploading and optimizing them at video sharing sites like YouTube. Not only do these sites have an existing audience, they also have social networking features that allow you to connect directly with that site's users. If you are planning on creating video in the future, viral video marketing should be part of your marketing plan. And with the costs of production having plummeted, video marketing is worth serious consideration.

Social Bookmarks Marketing: Social bookmarking services take the idea of your browser bookmarks feature and put them online for you to share with anyone. People can subscribe to your bookmarks, so they are a great way to distribute your content out to targeted audiences. Sites like del.icio.us and StumbleUpon also include social networking features, so you can get your message to people who are most likely to be interested in your content.

Blogging/Podcasting/Video Blogging: Blogs, be they written blogs, podcasts, or video blogs, or a combination thereof, are an excellent way to build a community around your content. Your in-house knowledge can be put on display to demonstrate to potential clients and customers your competence, enthusiasm, and expertise. The technology that drives blogs, RSS, allows you to distribute your content far and wide, thus extending your message far beyond just your blog. Optimizing your blog presence will help expose your content to the widest targeted audience.

Event Marketing: If your organization holds regular public events such as conferences, seminars, or speakers, promote them online with calendar sharing services such as Google Calendar and Upcoming.org. Optimizing your event listings will create another channel through which you can find new attendees.

Mobile Marketing/Microblogging/Instant & Text Message Marketing: The popularity of microblogging services such as Twitter is booming. These services combine blogging features with instant messaging and text messaging to create an entirely new and mobile communication vehicle. Designed with Internet connected mobile phones in mind, people can subscribe to your content and get your posts as text messages, instant messages, or they can just read your posts on the Web. These sites are yet another option to engage very specific communities.