For better marketing think Media Cycling

I have been trying to decipher online marketing for a long time and although in theory everything that I now know works, in reality, every business need is different when it comes to social advertising. The truth is that online advertising isn’t easy, unless you have thousands and in some cases millions of dollars in advertising budget.  So the question is really about how do you, a small business, leverage the free accounts and services you have available to you and use them successfully to earn customers?

Below is a list of profiles (assets) you might already have that are free to use and how maybe combining them can give you some leverage regardless of what campaign goal you might have. Is all about getting more exposure and more likes or followers, but your true bottom line is to get more welcoming recipients of your information.

 

Niche Apps

Facebook is huge in terms of daily users yet not every social website or app needs such a large amount of profiles to be successful and beneficial to you.  Websites or Apps like Instagram, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, Studio, Tumbler and even Fiverr can do a lot for your business.  Find the closest related to your niche market and increase awareness to your brand or services in a non-pitchy way. You do this by simply taking the native use of the platform in mind, Instagram for example is king with foodies while Studio is more of scenery and or motivational quotes layered over simple background images… the goal with either is to simply put out content with your signature on it building awareness. Websites like OppenUp, allow you to add to your team by hiring in a creative way and engaging your market with something as simple as hiring. If you can do motivational quotes or relate to food or clothing accessories on Instagram, well then you’re better off!

Also, always consider your website and or app as a social media tool, if your site or app is not driving more customers you have no purpose for it.

 

More popular sites

As I mentioned, Facebook is this generation’s Myspace (in technology each decade is a full generation) but you also have social gains like LinkedIn, Google (not specifically +) and Twitter.   Just like with smaller ones, is all about knowing who uses the platform, what times, and what they are looking for. Always remember that they are not there for you, you have to convince them though that you are there for them.

In order to simplify your efforts and improve your ROI, you need to combine these assets into one ad campaign with multiple legs and in essence bombarding your audience with the same message in every platform at once.

Create a campaign with one goal in mind such as information, spreading word about a coupon code, holiday sales, event, season, service, how to, blog or product introduction with a simple message that can be used in all platforms because your fan in one site will most likely be your follower as well in another.

 

Example of Media Cycling

I will use me writing this blog entry as an example. Now considering the social media tools I currently use: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, Studio, OppenUp and Blogger I can promote this blog entry through them by cycling the posts through them.

Most picture apps will generate a duplicate edited version of a picture which if used right can drive readers to my blog post, so I will always try to put a picture in my entries. Having a picture allows me to post this on blogger with a caption on it using this post’s title, then on Instagram I can post it or I can take a picture of my lunch and comment how I’m eating this delicious meal while writing a blog on combining social media efforts and add a link to the post in the picture comment on Instagram or Studio.  While I’m posting the original blog entry, Blogger allows me to instantly share with my Google+ friends so I can easily share a link and a description directly targeting those who I think would read it or know someone who would benefit from it. Pinterest allows you to target a specific website link as long as it has a picture to pin onto a board. I will pin the picture in this blog entry onto a niche board such as “internet things” or “marketing tips”  or even something as simple as a board titled “useful” or since it has to do with pictures I can pin it onto “photography”.  OppenUp is a hiring platform that uses social networking and video used by creative people in traditional job sectors so I might be able to link the website’s followers in twitter with a “Special Report: For better marketing think "Media Cycling" add a link and a few hashtags like #oppenup #creative & #marketing. My Facebook profile has a good number of dedicated fans, small list but amazing people so I know that if I post something they like I encourage them to read versus liking the post because is about giving them information not me gaining likes. In Facebook what I will most likely do is post a picture of something funny and mentioned a by the way, I just wrote another blog entry with a link…and that’s it. If I can make my Facebook friends laugh a bit I’m happy.

Does this help? Do you have any questions?

Please feel free to leave comments, email me and or visit Unthink.Me for information and services we offer J

 

Humberto Valle | Marketer & Entrepreneur

Unthink Me, Chief Creative