The Term Social Marketing

The term social marketing has been used to describe two different things. The first thing it is used to describe is a process of marketing to improve the social condition of the world. The second definition is used to describe the process of using social networking sites and online tools to market a company. I will be using the second definition as my focus for this article.

Social marketing made a big splash in the world of Internet marketing just a few years ago. New Internet activities like blogging, video clips, and other viral marketing devices caught on quickly, and soon outpaced established online advertising methods like keyword ads and banner ads. Because of this new trend in online advertising, many companies have begun to broaden their marketing campaigns to include social marketing strategies.

Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and GoWalla

These social media sites are receiving the most attention these days from online marketing experts for companies large and small. The power to influence yielded by these websites is immense. There are many excellent articles that have been written detailing good methods and strategies to employ for companies large and small who desire to engage the public using these sites. Even if you're not actively marketing your company on these sites, it's important to maintain a presence on them so that you can monitor what is being said about your business and about your competitors.

Blogging

Blogging is still one of the most popular social marketing strategies currently being used by companies and websites to attract customers and web traffic. Blogging is a web log that provides readers with a periodic posting of information. This information is written by a topic expert and usually relates to the focus of the website or a company's products and services. In order to be successful, a blog needs to be formatted as a discussion or informative article, it needs to include links to the site's product and services pages and it needs to offer a way for readers to leave their comments and carry on discussions with the blog writer(s).

Viral Video

Another popular form of social marketing is the use of video. This marketing strategy involves uploading fun or interesting video clips to a website, such as YouTube and Vimeo in the hopes that people will like it and tell other people to view it and pass it on. This creates word of mouth advertising that can spread like wild fire. Think about the effects of some of the popular videos that you know of ("Charlie bit my finger!", "United Breaks Guitars", and a host of others. Videos, when they're effective and truly go viral can generate millions of views.

eBooks

An older, but still effective form of viral marketing is the eBook. An eBook is basically a short manual or basic "how to" guide that is offered free of charge to people who complete a requested task. For example, you can offer an eBook to people who sign up for your website's newsletter or who enter a drawing on your site. The main purpose of giving away an eBook is to attract people to your website, however, it can also help you to develop an opt-in mailing list for your company. In order for an eBook to be a successful social marketing tool, it will need to provide valuable information.

Social marketing online is an ever changing, evolving landscape. It's important to engage, participate, and monitor what works and what doesn't work. Most importantly, social marketing allows your company to have a direct link with customers and potential customers. It allows you to directly engage your niche audience and strategize a method to reach them that is beneficial for your company and for them as customers.