What is Social Media Marketing?

Social Media Marketing (SMM) or Social Media Optimization (SMO) is utilizing the latest social media sites such as Facebook, Digg, Del.icio.us, Flickr, MySpace,Wikipedia, Reddit, Newsvine, StumbleUpon, YouTube, Technorati, Yahoo! Answers, Ma.gnolia, Yahoo!360, LinkedIn, Squidoo, Wikihow, and others to enhance and build on your marketing efforts.

Social Media Marketing goals often involve some form of viral marketing to build ideas or brand awareness, increase visibility, or sell products or services.

There is a big difference between traditional marketing and the new non-traditional outlets that Opt My Biz offers. Many companies are not aware of the big difference between the two. Utilizing traditional marketing outlets such as TV ads, radio, print ads and coupons are a direct communication to your audience where social media marketing is interactive. These different outlets allow you and require you to interact with your audience.

One important difference between traditional marketing efforts and the new Social Media marketing is that it requires you to interact with your audience in the same way they are using these outlets currently as a “conversation” or an open communication where you will be able to build trust and customer loyalty, word of mouth advertising, brand awareness, online visibility and increased website traffic.

Is Social Media Marketing right for your business?

Increased Website Traffic and Online Visibility

Consumers are not only utilizing the internet for shopping for products and services, they are also using it for socializing. They talk with their friends and family, share information, research, etc. Utilizing Social Media to provide useful information to your audience will ensure that they keep coming back to your site to find out what is new.

Create Customer Loyalty and Satisfaction

When you become the site that provides information and shares knowledge with your audience, it creates a trusting relationship. The importance of brands delivering an emotional and personal connection with the consumer is that positive brand experiences create loyalty and positive word of mouth recommendations.

Link Building

Having many natural or organic links back to your website, raises your awareness in the Search Engines and will increase your page ranking in major search engines. The more links you have will result in higher page rankings.

Increase Sales

Word of Mouth advertising is one of the most effective forms of increased sales. When people hear from their friends, relatives about a product/service they are more likely to become a new client. Also, while people are spreading the word about your business, you are building a relationship with your audience that will result in increased sales.

Building Brand Awareness and Creating a Buzz About Your Business

Social Media Marketing is brand awareness. When you are able to get your company to interact with your audience of potential new customers, your name, your logo, your company vision and a company values are all exposed to new possible clients. The goal for each company venturing into social media market place is to become not just the TV Commercial Ad that people fast forward through on TiVo but to the become the cool guy that everyone wants to be friends with.