To every coin there are two sides - you have to choose the winning one! Yes, both sides of the social media argument are somewhat correct in their own respective ways, however everything in life has its pros and cons.
To the social media enthusiasts - no, Social media is not the answer to all your prayers - it is a lot of work and time/energy consuming. You are right however, that one should not miss out on this great opportunity.
To the social media critics - You are right, social media can have a very negative affect on your image and yes, social media is for fun => it's for socializing = hence the name! However it is precisely because of the transparency of content on these networks that may benefit you quite a great deal!
Therefore the "6 step process" has been developed in order to answer all these questions and concerns in order to hopefully provide some kind of solution on how one can be successful using social media to its greatest potential.
Developed by KolBaKol Marketing & Solutions through an intensive 2 year research on how did social media help successful individuals and organizations achieve greater or large results. What did these individuals or organizations do or did not do that yielded the results that they produced.
KolBaKol looked at a few individuals in particular and others in general - some people that were studied were;
1. Justin Bieber - a 16 year old singer from Ontario, Canada, discovered through YouTube by Usher's team.
2. Cindy Gordon ex-VP of Marketing for Universal Studios in Orlando, FL. Marketing and creating a buzz for the new "Wizarding World of Harry Potter" theme park.
3. Troye Sivan - a 14 year old singer/actor from Perth, Austrailia - discovered via YouTube and acted as "Little Logan" in "X-Men Origins - Wolverine"
4. Susan Boyle - from "Britain's Got Talent" and,
5. Lisa Genova - author of NY Times bestseller "Still Alice"
Other individuals and organizations were also part of the research.
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1. Research your network - understand social media
This is where you research who are your surroundings, why are your potential audiences on these networks, which networks are they on? which network or platform is good for what? etc.
2. Branding and Branding Campaign
Deciding what image you would like to create for your audience and how you plan on "selling" them your image.
3. Communication and Blogging
The most important part of the 6 step process and the last one that focuses on you - this section is where you talk one on one to your audience and discuss with them what you are all about and what are your motives.
4. Monitoring and ROI
This is the first step where you will put your customers in the front! - how are they relating with your content? with your branding? and are you getting a return on your investment? are these audiences converting into clients?
5. Commenting and SEO
In order to get your brand more recognized and considerable, you need to share, comment on other people's content, make them feel special - if you have something of value, they will most likely follow up. This in turn will have them link to you - and potentially give you some Search Engine Optimization benefits!
6. Going Viral
Let everyone talk, relate, share, and interact with your content and branding - this will create a buzz and interest ultimately leading to many people linking to you and coming to you on their own.
This 6 step process is a lengthly and time consuming process - however if done correctly it is not complicated and may yield some very interesting results.
One of our test candidates Shirjoy - started her MySpace account about a month ago and has only done 2 or 3 of the above steps, view the image below to see her results. Now imagine if she was doing all 6 of the steps!
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If you are in the position or if you are a company it may be advisable to outsource to an agency or freelancer to take care of your social media project. The simple reason being, what good would your branding be if your organization cannot provide the products or services people believe is worth quite a bit, based on what they have been led to believe? And who else would be better at developing and maintaining your products or services other than yourself?
The reason why to outsource - would be because it would be quite expensive to build a whole new department or train the existing marketing department - this may cause a waste of time and/or personnel (unless your company can afford it!) On the other hand if you outsource, you may be able to invest more money on creating campaigns that will offer experiences to your audience.
Today online shoppers are looking for interesting and interactive "relationships" - this whole thing with social media - got us to realize how consumer would like to be treated. Give them a reason why to enjoy themselves on your website or platform and see if they won't come back. (check out Social Gaming if you are skeptical!)
In Conclusion:
The 6 step process was developed to simplify social media usage to any type of persons' usage, whether you'd be an individual job searching, promoting a talent that you may have, or be it a company that is promoting its products/services. These steps are good and important to anyone. They will allow you to have a competitive advantage and will allow you to compete with larger more successful businesses on a level playing field. It will teach you how to use social media in an effective way, and not allow social media to backfire on you in any negative way.
Finally it will allow you to budget correctly and plan effectively how to maintain your audience, convert them into clients and provide them with a unique and interactive experience that will only have them craving for more!
Yermi Kurkus is the Co-founder of KolBaKol and runs their Social media squad department which advises businesses, job seekers and entrepeneurs on how to use social media to maximize its usage to their individualized benefit. KolBaKol builds privatized social platforms for businesses that seek to catch on to this competitive advantage and seeks to interact with their audiences. Social Media Squad offers services for this platform which creates a unique and innovative experience for the company's audience. For more information feel free to contact via email or Twitter.
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