There’s no question that social media is a powerful marketing force – a real game changer. But it’s still just another tool that you must integrate with your existing sales and marketing initiatives. Social media can push people to other media, such as print, email, radio, and TV, and those traditional channels can pull people into your social networks to create exciting brand-enhancing opportunities.
Here are a few things to consider:
- Email Marketing. Always include social media icons in your email signature. Post an email campaign to your social sites so they work together to increase views. Capture emails from your social media followers to build targeted marketing databases for future campaigns. Email marketing platforms like MailChimp and Constant Contact can help you automate this process.
- Search engine optimization. Google is still the big kahuna of search so sharing content on Google+ can help you get higher Google search rankings due to the integrated nature of the Google universe.
- Journalist connections. Journalists are always looking for subject matter experts to cite as sources in their stories. Follow journalists on Twitter, Google+ and other platforms and then comment on and share their content. If you establish yourself as a thought leader and subject expert by joining online conversations, this can improve your chances of being cited in articles. And that usually means a link to your website.
- Hashtags. Hashtag campaigns can start on social media and carry over to print and direct mail to pull in more responses. If you come up with a catchy and relevant hashtag, include it in print headlines or taglines to refer back to social accounts where the hashtags become a searchable component.
- Existing content. You’ve got lots of existing content, like PowerPoint decks, printed flyers, videos, and photos. Share decks on SlideShare, videos on YouTube, photos on Flickr, whitepapers or articles on blogs. Scan product sheets into PDFs and create downloadable links on your website and other social accounts.
- Print campaigns. If you advertise with brochures, flyers, or direct mail, optimize the messaging and post it on relevant social media sites. Where appropriate, cross-reference the print on social and the social in the print. Use images from the print pieces when posting on social accounts and consider including links so customers can download the print content in digital form.
