Social Media Advertising Strategy: The Six Social Media Profiles for a Great Marketing Campaign

By Heather Lutze

Everyday it’s harder and harder for small business owners and advertisers to keep pace with all the social media platforms on the Internet.  It started with the personal profile phenomenon, which quickly evolved into video sharing profiles and then the floodgates opened up and now Internet users have over 400 social media platforms to consider.

Any marketer worth their salt knows the value of setting up a social media advertising campaign on these free platforms. However, with so many options and limited time, small business owners must have a strategic and targeted approach to social media advertising…

Business people need to develop a Social Media Advertising Formula, made up of the sites that all advertisers, website owners, and business owners must have in order to run a successful social media advertising campaign.  There are six essential platforms that business owners must have in order to really harness the potential of social advertising. Each social platform plays a very specific role, and the combination of all six is what will take your social advertising campaign to the next level. There is a secret ingredient at play here as well - the formula calls for a touch of optimization on each platform. Optimization allows your social media to work with your website and PPC campaigns to dominate the first page of search engine results. Essentially this formula will make you the only choice as far as the searcher and Google are concerned.

Social Advertising Element #1: Linked In - A popular business profile site, LinkedIn ranks very well in search engines and is a great platform for sending event updates out to business associates.

Directions: When optimizing your LinkedIn profile, select one core keyword (or search term you would like to be found under), use it frequently without sacrificing consumer experience, and watch your profile skyrocket in the search engines. 

Social Advertising Element #2: Facebook - As a closed community, Facebook does not rank in the search engines and makes the best choice if you want to have a personal profile online. However, optimizing your Facebook profile with your business keyword can make it an invaluable marketing effort.  

Directions: Optimize your Facebook profile for one keyword and become the “go-to” expert in your industry for the more than 22 million Facebook users. Also, include some personal touches, but beware of putting too much personal information online.

Social Advertising Element #3: MySpace – As an open community, MySpace ranks great in the search engines, and more importantly, allows businesses to have fully-developed profiles, including personally designed backgrounds. 

Directions:  In addition to optimizing your profile with a keyword, you can also search for your target audience in MySpace friends and create an amazing outreach network.

Social Advertising Element #4: YouTube – The main video sharing platform, YouTube is one of the best forums available to create a viral marketing campaign. From publishing client video testimonials to creating social proof of your abilities, YouTube videos are a great way to get other site owners to link to your website.

Directions: Each new video is a new opportunity to optimize for a different keyword. For each video, be sure to include your keyword in the title and at least once in the description section.

Social Advertising Element #5: Blog – If you only have the time or desire to create one social media platform, a blog should be at the top of your list. Blogs give users a few distinctive advantages over the other platforms that make them absolutely invaluable in the world of Internet Marketing. First, search engines love blogs. They have plenty of content and are easy for the spiders to crawl and categorize online. Second, consumers love blogs. They aren’t hard-sales, but instead are a mix of marketing and education that online shoppers trust. Third, every blog is a new opportunity for you to go after a new keyword. Whether you want to dominate a search page with one particular keyword or just have a presence under a different keyword, a blog is a free and easy way to get you there.

Directions: As with a YouTube video, every blog is a new keyword opportunity. Use a keyword tool, and select your keyword before writing. Then, include your keyword in the title and throughout the content- but remember never sacrifice consumer experience. Also, be advised that repeating a keyword too many times will show up as spam in the search engines.

Social Advertising Element #6: Twitter – The newest, hottest rage, Twitter is a micro blog that limits posts to 140 characters. Although you’ll typically hear the most skepticism about Twitter, it can be an amazing tool for your business. Twitter plugins allow you to update Twitter and literally push it out to your other platforms, such as Facebook. Additionally, Twitter posts rank in the search engines.

Directions: Select one keyword and include that in all your Twitter posts. Also, don’t forget to personalize your Twitter background for a totally unique and branded look and feel.

With the combination of these six social advertising platforms, your online campaign is sure to be a success!

Read other articles and learn more about Heather Lutze.

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