Building a Brand through Socialization

by Hannah Newlin on December 11, 2009

blog branding
This entry is part 1 of 4 in the series Social Media Intro

Marketing always involves branding.

Whether you are sending out a brochure, running a paid ad, or using a social media tool, how you go about building a brand begins with one important foundational question:

What are you branding?

No matter what your product is, before you begin socializing it online you must determine if you are going to brand your business (or product), your blog, or yourself.

Let me explain.

Your Business, Your Blog, Yourself

Depending on your business, your current reach, your audience, and the personalities driving your business, your strategy may look different than the strategy of your competitors.

Before you begin to socialize, you must determine how you want to go about it. Below are three examples that illustrate the three ways to socialize mentioned above. I’ll provide the example along with a link to the business/ personality’s Twitter page for a reference point.

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Social Networking Sites and ROI Discussion – Part 1

by Hannah Newlin on December 16, 2009

social media roi
This entry is part 2 of 4 in the series Social Media Intro

He said, “If your business is not on Facebook and Twitter, then you are way behind the times and you need to become active on social media tools.”  I say, “Not true.”

The social media revolution has fully emerged. We have seen things in the last five years that many of us were not expecting as we’ve watched the social interactions of our world drastically shift.  Naturally, our first instinct is to be a part of every new thing that happens and include it in our marketing efforts. However, like every marketing strategy, time invested in a social media strategy must produce a reasonable monetary result in order for the ROI to make sense.

In part one of this two part series on Social Networking and ROI (Return on Investment), we are going to discuss Twitter and Facebook demographics and the purpose of each site.  In part two, we will discuss ways for you to monitor ROI in your social networking efforts.

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Social Networking Sites and ROI Discussion – Part 2

by Hannah Newlin on December 18, 2009

Social Media ROI
This entry is part 3 of 4 in the series Social Media Intro

During part one we discussed the demographics of Facebook and Twitter and the importance of defining your specific purpose for using both networks in comparison with their capabilities.  Today we are going to talk a little bit about driving traffic through either channel and checks and balances for ROI, including tracking tools for monitoring time spent on social networking sites.

Driving Traffic through Twitter or Facebook

If you are planning to use Twitter or Facebook to drive traffic to your business, let me be clear about one thing - anyone can spot a fake. People join social networks in order to make real connections with people, not to be sold a product. They are there to learn or to communicate. If your business is planning on utilizing Facebook or Twitter, your strategy needs to center around how are you going to add value with no strings attached.  What can you offer your audience that gives them a reason to come back?

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It’s Not Just Because “Blogging Is Cool”

by Hannah Newlin on June 16, 2010

This entry is part 4 of 4 in the series Social Media Intro

In the past when marketing your message, you had a few selections to choose from: television, radio, print ads and billboards.  The options are pricey to say the least.  Today the world searches on the web for information, so the wise entrepreneur, business person or marketer is prepared. YouTube videos, television clips, Twitter one-liners, engaging stories and audio sound bites are just some of the different avenues through which a marketing message could be conveyed. However, in order to use these well, you have to know the best channels to support them.

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