Social media marketing is a new direction for companies to reach out directly to consumers.
When used correctly, it is a powerful marketing tool that allows major corporations reach out to their every day consumers.
Social media websites, such as Facebook, Twitter or MySpace, has shifted from a young population to just about anyone over the age of 13 including parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents.
Before you decide to use this media for marketing, you have to design a strategy.
Decide what you want and how you will reach those results.
Do you have a promotion to advertise? Are you looking to generate more hits to your website? Designing a strategy will help you focus on your direction.
Social media is meant to engage the consumer, not bore them.
Consumers don't want to read the latest news on your company.
Instead, post questions to spark a debate or get opinions on a topic related to your industry.
Keep track of your questions and see which ones grab attention and build off that topic.
Also, make sure to read everyone's comments.
You can generate questions and hone in on peoples interests for future marketing strategies.
Host interviews with leading experts in your industry and post them online.
It doesn't hurt to contact any leading expert.
Most likely they will be flattered to answer your questions.
You can also build hype for an upcoming promotion or campaign using Twitter or Facebook.
Keep the consumer interested by eluding to a special that will arrive soon.
Offer incentives for those who are following you.
Consumers love discounts and free items.
Just because you have over 3,000 friends, doesn't mean that you're using it in an effective way.
With over 300 million users on Facebook, any business searching for a new and innovative way to market has tapped into this market.
While companies spend thousand and millions of dollars on print and TV ads, using Facebook, Twitter or MySpace costs next to nothing except time.
Investing time into this market can help your business overall.