There is an ever-expanding number of small businesses, corporations and bloggers joining the social media bandwagon- and for good reason. It offers a cacophony of target markets and the public forum for which we can broadcast our online marketing to those most relevant. 
Unfortunately, many businesses lack the knowledge to use social networks. That’s where I come in. I’ve always been a social person; way back when AOL emerged as a social space, I was on every forum and chat room, trying to figure out WHY others were there, and who they were. This transpired into a full-blown career as a consultant for social media marketing strategies and online brand management (I’d like to thank all my grade school teachers for consistently flooding my report cards with comments like “Is too social” or “talks too much with peers”). I digress. Getting back to the topic…
This post is less about my social prowess and more about how you can improve your social media marketing strategies- or to get you to hire me! 
But in all seriousness, social media marketing is easy- once you have the foundation of knowledge to build upon.
Here are a few tips for social media marketing:
Know your brand.
We all have a “brand.” Who are you? Who is your company? What is your blog? If someone were asked to describe it, would they have a solid idea of who you are? Take some time to solidify your “mission statement,” if you will, and standardize that in the bio of every social network you’re a part of.
Know your audience.
I challenge you to rethink your target market. If something isn’t working now, chances are you’re not reaching the right people. After looking at your Google Analytics keywords, (You ARE using Analytics, aren’t you?!) spend some time on search.twitter.com typing in those keywords that bring people to your website.
Get a little personal.
While social networks can, and often are, abused by those who feel the need to share their by-the-minute activities, you can get personal without being “that person.” Knowing your audience is the first step to really interacting with them. Are you “following” them? Are you interacting with them? Do they see you as a real person or as some unnamed user profile?
Create great content.
There is nothing worse for your online reputation than doing all the right things followed by content that has either been re-purposed from another blog or that is simply not engaging. Fortunately, if you know your audience well enough, you’ll know what they will want to read/learn/find useful.
Dedicate the time.
We see fruitless attempts at social media management on a regular basis, and believe it or not, success can be as simple as dedicating time to “existing” on these mediums. If you don’t have the time, hire someone who does- and who knows what they’re doing! In many cases, dedicating your own valuable time to new media marketing can be more costly than paying someone who has become efficient at what they do.
Like I mentioned earlier, social media marketing can be painless. It takes patience, dedication and the willingness to learn.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them here for me!
