Social site marketing begins with the basics

The marketing tools - blogs, Twitter, YouTube and their Web cousins - may be 21st century, but the effort a business owner should put in before tackling social networks is the Marketing 101 we knew in college.

For example, says Mark E. Goodman, a business owner should answer three questions before plunging into social site marketing: Who is your target market? What problems do they have? How does your business solve those problems?

When you have the answers, Goodman says your task is to "Roll up your sleeves and become a watcher. Pick some blogs you think are interesting and subscribe to them. There's no obligation; you're just reading."

Goodman, CEO of e-Conversation Solutions, Inc., a Web content creator in Northbrook, suggests sorting through postings at BlogSpot or Wordpress if you haven't discovered blogs on your own. Blogs also will surface on searches.

Because social site interactions are based on trust, Goodman's reason for watching and reading is to "Determine what (bloggers) are doing that makes you think they're trustworthy" and, essentially, mimic their approach. "Test drive your own content with some comments to the blogs you've decided to follow," he says. "When you're comfortable, set up your own blog."

The process is similar on Twitter, where Goodman says, "There's no need to Tweet to follow people. Twitter has a simple search that will help you (find) people interested in golf or metal stamping" or whatever you're selling.

The next step in Goodman's approach to social site marketing is to create content that will sell your product or service - which is where Goodman's e-Conversation becomes interesting: A newbie business, e-Conversation provides content that is a series of short newscast-like interviews that position the business owner as an expert.

From a typical 30-minute base interview, e-Conversation culls as many as 18-20 segments suitable for airing on YouTube and Twitter, your blog and in your e-mail marketing as a video link.

E-Conversation focuses on video content because Goodman's analysis of search analytics indicates video segments can move a business higher on search engine pages. The content must be watched, however.

"Google and YouTube keep track of how well you do," Goodman explains. "The goal is not for someone to find your video, but for them to watch the video all the way through."

A video watched all the way through helps with analytics and ranking. Videos started but clicked off hurt.

Consequently, there's work to do to make an e-Conversation video work. Business owners are instructed to develop a list of "10 questions your target customers ask you - and two questions they should ask." Your answers to those questions during Goodman's interview are the core of the information that helps you appear knowledgeable - and keeps viewers watching.

Questions, comments to Jim Kendall, JKendall@121MarketingResources.com. © 2010 121 Marketing Resources, Inc.