The Zen of Social Media Marketing. Shama Hyder

      Have you ever heard of putting strategy before tactics? A strategy is an overall plan. It is the big picture: what needs to be accomplished and why. Tactics, in contrast, address the when, where, and how. Tactics are the way you implement your strategy.

      Strategy should always come before tactics. However, most people doing business online go about this backwards. I call this the “shiny toy syndrome.” They see the next cool networking site and join, or someone tells them they have to have a blog, so they start one only to abandon it after a month. I see people constantly chasing the next cool thing online without really knowing specifically what they want to accomplish. They may think, “I want to make money,” but don’t go further than that. And most importantly, because they don’t know what they want to accomplish, they don’t know how to measure the success of their tactics.

      The net comprises a gazillion splinters, most of which are businesses trying to claim their spot. So social media doesn’t amount to a hill of beans unless what you’re promoting stands out in that crowded marketplace. Differentiation is key, and that is why nothing can get along in the land of social media marketing without a clearly defined, unique, “hooky” offer. This is actually the most important part of branding—not the clever name or snappy tagline, as most think. In fact, when I brand folks, the brand is added last and naturally tumbles out of the “hooky” offer. My intention in branding folks is always to extract what is truly unique, quirky, interesting, and relevant about them and their businesses and then roll that into the offer and consequently the brand. What’s hooky about you?

      Suzanne Falter-Barns,

      Get Known Now (www.GetKnownNow.com)

      Are you trying to attract? Convert? Transform? Once you decide what your goal is, look at the preceding table to find a tactic that will help you achieve it. Then you’ll also know how to measure your success. For example, if you know that the ad you are going to put on Google is meant to attract, then you will measure the number of visitors to your site to gauge how successful your investment was. You won’t waste your time being frustrated that it didn’t lead to more direct sales. If you were using a tactic to convert, you would check the number of people who subscribed to your newsletter. (Hint: These subscribers would be considered consumers! Remember: Consumption of Valuable Content + Time = Client.)

      Now that you have a solid understanding of how social media fits into the bigger scheme of things, let’s take a quick look at how to make the most of your ultimate conversion tool—your website!

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       Websites and Content Marketing

      “When I took office, only high energy physicists had ever heard of what is called the Worldwide Web . . . Now even my cat has its own page.”

      Bill Clinton

      YOUR WEBSITE IS A WINDOW into your company. If eyes are the window to a person’s soul, a website is the window to a company’s soul. Okay, okay, so now you know why I am sticking to writing nonfiction. My point is your website is crucial.

      Social media, blogging, search engine optimization, and email marketing are powerful ways of developing online leads for most business. However, it’s your company’s website where your prospect makes a buying decision and the sale actually takes place. Each webpage needs to provide prospects with a compelling reason to do business with you, including calls to action that gently direct them down the sales funnel, getting them to “buy now” or contact you. While an unprofessional website will derail the best web marketing campaign, a well-designed site is a powerful conversion tool that will continually deliver high-quality leads.

      Rich Brooks,

       president of flyte new media (www.flyte.biz)

      The following are three reasons you must have a website.

      REASON 1: It’s expected! Can you imagine a business that doesn’t have a phone number? No telephone? How 1800s! No website? How 1990s!

       As social media grows and companies break new ground, even a website may not be enough. What starts out as “all the cool companies are doing it” soon turns into standard practice. I wouldn’t be surprised if today’s consumers get frustrated because they don’t find the company they are trying to reach on Twitter. As communication channels increase, so does our level of expectation.

      REASON 2: It’s efficient. A website can multiply the number of people your business can influence exponentially.

       Let’s say you sell art supplies at a beautiful store. How many customers can you serve at one time? Two? Three? Maybe you are really good and you can serve four at a time. How many people can visit your website at once? Hundreds, thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands. They can see your products, make purchases, and share you with friends—simultaneously.

       Our website contains everything a prospect might want to know about us. It includes case studies, articles, bios of team members, and even videos! And all of that is available 24/7, whenever our potential clients might need it.

      REASON 3: It converts! Perhaps the biggest reason to have a website is that it takes care of the “C” in our ACT blueprint. A website can convert visitors that you attract (using social media) into consumers and customers. You can attract all the people you want on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. But if they don’t convert, what’s the point?

       Why Your Website Can’t Just Be Good——It Has to Be Great!

      Your website is the online equivalent of your office—the place people go when they want to do business with you. It’s not enough to have just any website. People expect that your website will match their perception of your business.

      Let’s say you meet a guy at a party, and he is dressed to the nines. He tells you that he helps business owners triple their income. You also hear from someone else that he is a successful business consultant. You chat with him for a few minutes, and you are impressed! This guy looks like the epitome of success. Then, he pulls out a business card (also fancy) and invites you to his office. You think, “My business could always use more help. It couldn’t hurt to visit with this guy.” So you go to his office.

      Except his office is hard to find. You drive around for thirty minutes in circles before you locate the building, and when you finally find it, it’s more like a broken-down warehouse. You park your car, double-check the locks, and slowly make your way in. The office is decrepit. It is a congested little room with papers strewn all around, and to top it off, it smells like cat litter.

      Will you still do business with the guy? You might. But you may also see a major disconnect in his public persona and his actual business. If your website isn’t up to par—easily findable and professional—this is the same disconnect people are likely to feel about you.

      Our web is not the web of the 1990s. Remember when people actually “surfed the internet”? It was common and many times it was listed as a hobby. “I like to read, take long walks on the beach, and surf the internet.” Surfing is over. It was easy back then because there were fewer websites. Today, there are trillions of websites, and people have a lot less patience for bad ones. Think about it. How long do you look at a website you are unsure about before you hit the back button? According to Canadian researchers, web users form first impressions of webpages in as little as fifty milliseconds (one-twentieth of a second). In the blink of an eye, we decide if we will keep looking or go back. This is why good enough isn’t good enough anymore. You have to have a great website.

      Another key consideration is ensuring your website is mobile-friendly. One reason to do so is that, if your website isn’t, it will take a major search engine optimization