Part II- Social Media Marketing Strategy & Defining Your Goals

You need to set specific goals and include them in your social media strategy.  Different types of social media require different types of goals. Goals should be measurable. A starting point for defining goals for social networking sites for instance would be to consider the metrics that apply to them. Here metrics include: number of fans or likes, number of comments, number of discussions started, how much time visitors stay on your site, traffic, number of photos added by friends, and how many times you have been tagged by others.

For example a goal may be to have a 15% increase in fans in 3 months on your social networking site or a similar increase in comments on your blog. If you are not reaching your desired goal, you may need to modify that goal and try a new approach. Perhaps your audience is not using social networking sites but is more present in forums or message boards. Perhaps you need to give more time to the social networking site or perhaps the tactic for engagement is wrong altogether.

Perhaps your goal is simply to turn around the negativity caused by problems with your product or your customer service. Perhaps your goal is to just get out there and get noticed. You have a new product and need exposure.

The more detailed your goals are, the more likely you will achieve them.  Most importantly, how will the achievement of these goals translate to saving money or making money?

Social Media Marketing For Your Business- "Where Do I Begin?"

This will be the first part of a multi part post on steps to take in social media marketing. The first thing that many people tell me is that they have no idea how social media works and do not know where to begin.

The best advice I can give anyone who really wants to harness the power that social media can offer for their business is to listen to the conversations that are taking place regarding similar products, services or industries as their own. Let's take a step back. Here are some of the main types of social media:

Social Networking- Facebook, Myspace, Linkedin
Social Sharing- YouTube, Flickr
Blogs
Microblogging- Twitter
Social Bookmarking- Delicious, Diigo
Social Events- Eventful, Upcoming
Social News  sites- Digg, Reddit
Forums and Message boards
Wikis

How does one find those social media communities best connected to their product or service? Here the most obvious would be to do a google search or similar search engine search. You will quickly see the top listings for your industry, product, service, etc. You will find blogs, forums, discussion groups. You should also do a Twitter search and a Facebook and Myspace search. Here the point is to find where these conversations are taking place. Your particular product or similar product may be present in the form of blogs and on Twitter and not have a significant presence on Facebook or Myspace.

After you have done substantial listening, you can actually join in on the conversations, being honest with who you are and what you are interested in learning and more importantly, sharing. Do not make the mistake of trying to pitch your product or idea to the community because chances are you will be kicked out. Social media communities do not want to be marketed to. Good luck!