Prechnology is a social media marketing firm based in Scottsdale, Arizona. We specialize in directing targeted traffic through social media and are constantly staying on top of the latest trends. The purpose of this blog is to instruct you on how to make social media work to your advantage. All of the information is free, and we encourage you to use it! If you would like us to handle your social media campaign, please visit our contact page.

I’ve been writing posts on the Prechnology blog since May 2009. I’ve decided to provide readers with a social media marketing overview based on these blog posts.

Blog Marketing

Having a blog on your business website is essential. In order to drive traffic to your site, you will need fresh content. What kind of content is best for your business? Be an expert in your industry and write about what you know. Provide updates on your business, partnerships, and development plans. A corporate blog is the bridge between the consumer and the company. A corporate blog puts a face on the company. There is a personal quality to blogging. There is an interactive element. You want to engage your readers, answer their questions, and lead them in the right direction. Learn more about blog marketing here.

Twitter

After you set up your blog, create a Twitter account for your business. Twitter is becoming the biggest form of online communication since email. Think of your Twitter stream as a mini-blog. You provide the same updates about your business but in shorter form. One of the differences between Twitter and blogging is that Twitter has an even higher level of engagement among users. You will get to know your followers. You will build a community around your interests.

An environment of mutual promotion is a key element to the social web, and Twitter is where this happens the most. Everyone has their own company, website, or service; and they will support yours if you support theirs. The momentum that gets created between recommendations and suggestions creates an even larger community of followers. Learn more about Twitter here.

Facebook

Facebook has recently made some significant changes that can dramatically expose your products and services to new people. First, you will want to make sure you have a Facebook account. Next, consider making a Facebook fan page for your business. With a fan page, people can join your company page. Think of a Facebook fan page as a mini-site or hub page for your business. There are several ways to integrate Twitter and Facebook, so instead of having to post to both sites, you only have to post to one. Learn more about Facebook here.

Social Bookmarking

Get involved with sharing links and bookmarking links of interest to you. News is rapidly becoming more personalized in the Internet Era. Social media bookmarking sites like Reddit, Twine, Social Median, Digg, Delicious, and StumbleUpon allow you to find the information that matters most to you on the Web. Use these sites to save webpages and to promote your own site. Build an interest community on your favorite social bookmarking site. This involves “friending” people and joining groups.

Flickr

Flickr is the most popular image bookmarking site on the Web, but it’s also a place to upload photos of yourself, your family, or your business. Image search dominates a large portion of the social web, and therefore it’s good for traffic. You can tag your images with relevant keywords such as “POP Display”, depending on the products you sell. Always make sure that you place a link back to your website on any image you upload. This makes it easy for people to find your website. Flickr is also a place to join interest groups, and add other people’s images to your own collection. Dive in!

Article Marketing

In addition to creating blog posts, you may want to consider writing articles and submitting them to various article sites. Articles are meant to be informative. They tend to be niche-based as well. If you think you have some valuable information to offer about a given industry, submitting articles can drive traffic to your site. At the bottom of your article is a place to put your bio and information about your company. Learn more about article marketing here.

Link-building

Last but not least, link-building involves every topic I’ve just covered. Your blog will contain internal links back to your company pages. Your Twitter stream will have links to your blog or website. Similarly, you can posts links to your site on Facebook. And social bookmarking is all about bookmarking links to your latest blog posts. But remember not to overdo it. When people on Facebook or Twitter see that all your links go back to your own site, they might take you for a spammer. It’s best to provide a balance of links to other sites and your own.

You’ll also want to build links on other websites. Sometimes you can do this by asking to do a link-exchange, but more commonly it will be something you post on your blog that really grabs people’s attention. They may bookmark your post, subscribe to your RSS feed, or even better, they may put your site on their blogroll.

The social web revolves around mutual interests. People will want to link to your site if they share the same interests as you.  Learn more about link-building here.