Business Marketing

Most professionals want to increase sales and online visibility and those of you in this category should consider using Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube as your main social networking choices. Facebook has some good applications too, like Facebook Connect, however, I've found this to benefit big brands in particular. For example, Ben & Jerry's promotes new flavors and solicits votes for brand building and to drive traffic to their stores through their "fan" page on Facebook. If you can think of a promotion and tie it into a major cause, this could be effective for you. Remember how CNN promoted the presidential election campaign using Facebook and Twitter to disseminate information to their audiences? CNN's screen still says, "Follow us on Twitter" and, by following, I'm able to keep track of breaking news.

I've been using Twitter since the summer of 2008, mostly for business purposes like networking, brand building, sharing news, marketing tips, stats, new products, events and for following trending real-time information. Check out Twitter's "trending topics" to quickly track the most popular topics. Breaking news often appears first on Twitter. Why? Because that's where the reporters and the media think their audience can be found.

Think about your own behavior. Have you noticed a change in the way you consume your news and information? If so, your customers are probably experiencing the same. Just the other day, my 95-year-old aunt asked how to go on Twitter because she wanted to keep her friends and family abreast of her surgery. She already uses AOL for e-mail. She may set a record for the oldest tweeter and it goes to show you that all ages are using social networking sites.

How Twitter will change the way we live, according to TIME Magazine

Time Magazine just featured a Twitter post on the June 5th front cover issue that said, "How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live." The article points out, "it's just as easy to use Twitter to spread the word about a brilliant 10,000-word New Yorker article as it is to spread the word about your Lucky Charms habit." It takes five to seven times to repeat your marketing message before most people take action and social networking can make this easier for you.

These services are free communication tools and you can easily stay abreast of news and industry data, but you can also share your insights and expertise. Did you ever notice how all these social media Web sites have a search box? Everything begins with "search" -- whether you're using Google, YouTube or Twitter -- and the most recent statistics show the YouTube's has become the second largest search site on the Internet. Many users are searching for "how-to videos" and you could be the professional they find and need. You can easily establish yourself as a thought leader in your area of specialty and people will start to follow you based on the terms you use in your tweets or blog posts. It's also easy to search and find followers on Twitter, as it's all about what are you doing now?.

Thirty minutes per day

My social media marketing strategy is for brand building and to increase sales and visibility. First, you need to know your target market. Mine are baby boomer business owners, CEO entrepreneurs, self-employed and marketing professionals looking for integrated marketing campaigns and more visibility using online PR. They are typically involved in private equity, investment real estate and financial and professional services. My posts and tweets are usually around money and marketing/PR -- my specialties. Are you marketing to baby boomers, affluent seniors, self-employed professionals, or physicians? More than likely, they are using these sites to find timely information and they could be finding you.

How often do I use Twitter? I use Apple's iPhone app- Twitterfon (it's free) on my morning Ferry commute to my office and a few times during the day. It's similar to how I check my stocks and read Bloomberg News. You can also conduct fast research, using the search function. I find this very effective to get facts or current news for articles and/or PR stories I'm writing.

TIP: You'll definitely see a spike in your blog/Web site traffic when you add links to all your posts, tweets, Web site, and all other online tools. For example, I've been producing and hosting Webinars for four years and consistently attract more than 200 callers each month. I teach these tips and strategies in my MP3 series on Webinar Marketing. My last speaker got 21 qualified leads and only spoke for seven minutes.