Social Media 101: Tactics and Tips to DevelopYour Business Online

Chapter 74. 50 Ways Marketers Can Use Social Media to Improve Their Marketing

Social media isn't always the right tool for the job. Not every company needs a blog. YouTube worked for Blendtec (Will It Blend?), but it might not work for your company. And yet, there's something to this. Recently I've spoken to four huge brands in America that are considering social media for one project or another, and there are many more out there working on the possibility of integrating these tools into their business needs. Here's a list of 50 ideas (in no particular order) to help move the conversation along. Note: I mix PR and marketing. They should get back together again.

1. Add social bookmark links to your most important web pages and/or blog posts to improve sharing.

2. Build blogs and teach conversational marketing and business relationship–building techniques.

3. For every video project purchased, ensure there's an embeddable Web version for improved sharing.

4. Learn how tagging and other metadata improve your ability to search and measure the spread of information.

5. Create informational podcasts about a product's overall space, not just the product.

6. Build community platforms around real communities of shared interest.

7. Help companies participate in existing social networks, and build relationships on their turf.

8. Check out Twitter as a way to show a company's personality. (Don't fabricate this.)

9. Couple your e-mail newsletter content with additional web site content on a blog for improved commenting.

10. Build sentiment ...