"So What Exactly is Social Media and… Social Media Advertising, Marketing and Optimisation?"

What is Social Media?

Well here is a definition…Social Media is about community networks on the Internet that allows for hyper-connectivity between individuals and content. The social software enables anyone without knowledge of coding, to post, comment on, share or mash up content, and to form communities around shared interests.

The most well-known communities are Linked In, Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and Youtube with a plethora of blog sites. However there are numerous other social networks online with many having a focused interest, such as Travel, Finance, Parenting, Business.

Social Media is now a mass-communications channel and too important for any organisation to ignore.

What is Social Media Advertising?

Social Media Advertising  is using rich media and interactive widgets, on paid placement across social networks and blogs, where content can be created that affords a truly interactive advertising experience that is proven to yield a higher ROI propensity.

3 Types of  Social Media Marketing

1. Word of Mouth: This is getting a conversation going, participating in the conversation, creating content and resources people can engage with and pass on.
2. User-generated content: This could form any number of scenarios from using simple ratings and reviews on your site, which garners high conversion rates, to inviting users to participate with your content, join your own community, post their own materials.
3. Advocacy: Through carefully crafted opinion scales, we identify and engage your advocates (from your own customer database to external on the social web) to engage them to be your recommenders. The power of recommendation is the most important channel of influence that the social media channel delivers.

What is Social Media Optimisation (SMO)?

Making the content travel and making it visible on search engines. Social Media Optimisation radically improves your SEO results. It is important to optimise your social content, and use a solid link baiting strategy to ensure you are part of the social web

So what are the Benefits of Social Media?

• Live research and insights into your brand, your customers, trends and market places
• Engagement in the online conversation they are having about you today
• Reputation management
• Highly effective brand visibility
• Drives traffic and generates sales
• Increases SEO results
• Wide distribution channel to disseminate your messages
• Improves CRM
• It is completely measureable
• The most credible form of marketing

Finally….5 Key Steps to Social Media

1. You need to do the research first, then listen, analyse and benchmark
2. Train your team to enable them to understand the opportunities of Social Media
3.  The research determines the social media approach and the strategic recommendations 
4. You then implement & manage
5.  Then you measure