Keys To Social Media Marketing

     Social Media Marketing (SMM) is the newest buzz in the PR and marketing realm. And as with any new publicity tool, people have lots of questions on how to best utilize it.

     SMM takes viral marketing to the extreme. Just as you can send friends your favorite jokes via email, with SMM people can spread your message for you with a simple click of a button. It's a good type of virus that you hope your message gets infected with it.

     To ensure that SMM works for you in a positive way, you need to employ some keys to success. This week, Promotional Consultant Today is offering four guidelines to get you started on the path to successful social media marketing. Today we'll look at the first tip, Find The Right Sites.

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TOP SHELF TIP NO. 91

"Business has only two functions -- marketing and innovation"

Milan Kundera, Czech novelist, playwright, poet

Put your message on the right sites.

     There are literally hundreds if not thousands of social media sites available today. You need to determine where your market is and post your messages on those sites. You don't want to get on the wrong site, as that would waste your time and possibly hurt your credibility. With SMM, being anywhere and everywhere is not the answer. Be strategic and target your market for the best results.

     Also realize that your market might change. Just because a certain SMM site attracts your market today doesn't mean it will tomorrow. People are fickle in and they get bored easily. For example, LinkedIn almost fell out of existence in November 2008. Now they are back to being the biggest business SMM site. But, LinkedIn had to make a huge shift in the services they provide because their market moved. And once the market moves, it tends to go in mass.

     So if you are not watching your market, it may leave the social site where you're sending your messages and SMM efforts will be wasted.

     Source: Pam Lontos is president of PR/PR, a public relations firm based in Orlando, Florida. She is author of I See Your Name Everywhere." PR/PR works with established businesses as well as entrepreneurs who are just launching their company, and has placed clients in publications such as USA Today, Entrepreneur, Time, Reader's Digest and Cosmopolitan.