Branding

Basic marketing focuses on the need for branding, name recognition, visibility,
presence, or top-of-mind awareness. Call it what you will — you want
people to remember your company name when they’re in need of your
product or service. Social media services, of almost every type, are excellent
ways to build your brand.

Social media works for branding as long as you get your name in front of
the right people. Plan to segment the audience on the large social media
services. You can look for more targeted groups within them or search for
specialty services that may reach fewer people overall but more of the ones
who are right for your business.

Building relationships
You will hear repeatedly that social media marketing requires the long view.
To build effective relationships in social media, you’re expected to :

✦ Establish your expertise
✦ Participate regularly as a “good citizen” of whichever social media world
you’re inhabiting
✦ Avoid overt self-promotion
✦ Sell softly
✦ Provide value with links, resources, and unbiased information

Watch for steady growth in the number of your followers on a particular service;
the number of people who recommend your site to others; increased
downloads of white papers; or repeat visits to your site. All these signs indicate
you’re building relationships that may later lead, if not to a direct sale,
then to a word-of-Web recommendation to someone who does buy.

In the world of social media, the term engagement refers to the length of time
and quality of interaction between your company and your followers.

Social media is a long-term commitment. Other than little experiments or
pilot projects, don’t bother starting a social media commitment if you don’t
plan to keep it going. Any short-term benefits you see aren’t worth the effort
you have to make.