Marketing through Social Media

Using Social Media to get traffic

More and more marketers are using Social Media to get traffic to a website, be it for an event or to announce the launch of new product. Social Media has the ability to reach your target audience any where in the world within no time at all!

Almost everyone I know has a Facebook, twitter, and LinkedIn account. And many of us access YouTube to view and upload videos. Not only do we have accounts, we constantly access and connect with people on these networking sites. Also, the presence of smart phones has made it possible to easily share and connect with people, 24X7.

I assume that most of you use social networking. If not, you will need to start making use of this medium; you must invest time to be a part of this growing and popular medium. Without a presence in the social networking sites, it will be difficult for you to attract traffic instantly on the networking sites. It is never too late to start though.

Once you have a decent presence across the networking sites, you can easily tap into the huge potential traffic from social networking sites. Create a campaign that will excite, interest, and motivate people to participate. They will participate if they know that they have something to gain from participating in an event.

What is in it for me?

This is the question we ask ourselves when we see a product or event.

Advertisers and marketers need to keep the above question in mind while creating their campaigns. Unless you tell your target population what they will gain out of participating in an event or buying your products, they may not be tempted or motivated to take action. Create campaigns that answer the above mentioned question.

There will be two immediate benefits of this,a)it will attract your target population’s attention,and b)that in turn will attract more people because anything this exciting is bound to get shared.At the end, it is people who help you in spreading your message across. This is the very essence of social networking.

For instance, you have launched a new product and you need to create a buzz about it, here is how you can go about it:-

1. The first step would be to create a post about your product on your website.
2. Mention the benefits of registering or buying your product. You might want to provide an early bird discount and even free gifts for registering for the product.
3. Post reviews on the new product on your web site, preferably from well-known people.
4. Twit about it on Twitter, you may want to provide a free gift to people who refer someone.
5. A Facebook page on the product will be extremely helpful. A limited time Ad on Facebook, announcing the launch of the product can generate a lot of traffic for you.
6. A video recording of the product depicting the benefits and advantages of using this product on your web site, YouTube, and Facebook, will be extremely beneficial.
7. LinkedIn is another way of creating buzz about your new product. The best part about the social networking sites and the most exciting part is the prospect of tapping into more networks of people. It has all the features of a going viral, if used optimally your message can spread like wildfire.

I have given an example of a product, it could be anything. You could be organizing a show in your city, you want maximum people to turn up. Social media has the answers for you. Just twit about it, something like – “First time in our city <>, attend for free, find out here”. You can announce the event on Facebook by creating a page. That page should contain enough information, along with presenters, and some early bird prizes for people who register for the event. An option to register can be provided on Facebook itself. One should think of anything that makes it easy for people to participate. Don’t make them fill out huge forms. If you are committing something, ensure that you provide it with minimum fuss.

On Pinterest, you can create a new Board for that event, put up images related to the event. Invite people from your city to register. Stumble Upon in another good Social media platform that will help you reach out to many people.

The means of reaching out to your target population is there, all you need to do is create a campaign that excites people enough to take action. And remember to provide the underlying message about what is there in this for them.

Happy networking.