Social Media Marketing All-in-One For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Chapter 6: Multiplying Your Impact

In This Chapter

• Integrating social media with e-newsletters
• Incorporating social media into press releases and public relations
• Leveraging social media with website features
• Using paid advertising on social media

Avolatile debate rages in marketing circles: Has social media become so prohibitively popular — and social media companies so desperate to monetize their sites and satisfy their investors — that it's no longer possible to be successful with only free posts and content?

Statistical analysis by The Guardian (www.theguardian.com/media/2014/sep/15/pay-to-play-the-end-of-free-social-media-marketing) shows that organic (unsponsored) reach for brands on Facebook and Twitter has plummeted to the point that less than 10 percent of your followers even see your content. Instead, promoted posts, ads, and posts from friends squeeze out your attempts to communicate for free.

You can address this problem in two ways: beat ’em or join ’em. In this chapter, we talk first about beating ’em by combining social media with email, press releases, or websites to increase reach.

If those methods don't work, you can always join ’em by paying to promote your posts, tweets, and pins to reach the audience you want. We discuss a range of advertising possibilities on four primary social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

Thinking Strategically about Social Media Integration

For many businesses, social media marketing adds to the richness of ...