Social Media Marketing

I have immersed myself into the social media world over the last week or two.

The newest kid on the block is twitter.

The first thing most people think when hearing or seeing Twitter is ‘huh’, ‘what’s the point’.

Twitter is a site where people log in and then can post short (140 characters) tweets about what they are doing right now.  Members (or twitterers or tweeps) can also add who they are following and can have others follow their tweeks.

So really what can you do with 140 characters?  And how can this be marketing?

Well ask that to MC Hammer – a big time Twitter user.  Or Joel Comm who just came out with a new book – Twitter Power.

Or even Dell, who is using Twitter to sell discounted computers.  Or even a small Banff newspaper who is using Twitter to post it’s classified ads.

The ways to use Twitter is immense.

Another social media site I have been using is Facebook.  I have been on FB for awhile, using it to connect with many old friends and family.

Now I am also trying Facebook out for it’s business purpose.

I created a business page – or what Facebook calls a fan page – check it the ZedBiz fan page.

It is even possible for Twitter and Facebook to work together.  There is an application on Facebook that connects to Twitter to put your Twitter updates as your Facebook status updates.

I have been doing this, but not sure if it is the best strategy.  I think that the updates on Twitter are not relevant to my Facebook friends.  And they often do not make sense.  So I think I will take off that application.

So are Twitter and Facebook the only social media applications that are useful?  Well there are many others.

I have started to use LinkedIn.  I have been a member for quite a while, but now I am trying to actually build up my network on LinkedIn.  LinkedIn is a professional business networking site.  Some people have had huge success with this site.  I will let you know how it works for me.

Some other social media sites that I will be checking out, or I have heard work well are Squidoo, YouTube, Flicker, bizreach, bixnik, bizsugar, and work.com.