Jody Raines

  • Web MarCom
  • About
  • Blog

April 19, 2016 By Jody Raines Leave a Comment

Social Media Marketing And Your Online Brand

Jody Raines, social media tools

Social Media tools and your online brand

Your website is only a part of your online campaign for online branding. Granted,an optimized website is the most important component of your online marketing strategy, however even with the most glorious and well thought-out website, you may be missing huge opportunities to support your product, champion your brand and connect with your customers and prospects.

Social media marketing was a “buzzword” that we started to discuss a several years ago.   You may also have heard the terminology “new marketing” or “online marketing” or even “inbound marketing”.  The concept is to create an optimized online presence to help your customers find you and your business.  A lot of the social media “guru’ types talked about “engagement” and there was much nodding of heads.  But the reality is that there is very little engagement happening, even today, because so many companies have opted to run automated campaigns.

I’m not against all automation, but it just does not work for every organization in every situation. Especially in times of high national tension, when the focus is on an earthquake or superstorm, having an automated message about sunny skies is a real disconnect with your audience. The worst thing you can to is have your customers disengage, opt out, and disconnect.   Now, those wonderful social channels have worked against you.

If I had to pick one word to describe the best practices for social media marketing, that word would be responsive.  Not only are we striving for responsive design in websites, but we also should be responsive to our audience and to the societal and cultural changes around us.  If you are responsive, you are creating content that is relevant and that has true appeal to your targeted customers.

A responsive website is one that fluidly re-conforms to the device it is being viewed on.  Newer websites are being created that have this feature built in.  Some of the older websites have both a desktop version and a mobile version.  Without getting too technical, what you want to be sure to do is to present the version that is best viewed on the device that the viewer is using at the time they visit your site.  It makes perfect sense, right?

One of my biggest frustrations is one of the news alert services that I use that sends me a link to an article that I want to read.  When I click on the link, I’m taken to a general page that may or may not contain the article.   Eventually, I stop clicking on the link and ignore the alert.  I may even unsubscribe from the alert.  This is no different than putting the wrong terminology or advertising or teaser to an article, then sending the reader to a site that is so general, they get turned off. Social media is an awesome tool to drive traffic to your site – just be sure that the link is truly the target of the tweet or Facebook post.  Otherwise, you will lose customers.

When it comes to internet branding and social media optimization, the rules for marketing have changed, and without a social media presence, you will be a dinosaur.  Customers are searching and researching using the Internet. There is an entire generation that is growing up in a world where using Google is second nature to find answers.  The changes that search engines have gone through are taken in stride, and adopted readily.   To be sure that your online brand is being appropriately represented in today’s informational society means you have to be relevent and  you have to be present. That includes social media.   The old excuse that your customers don’t use social media is becoming tired and inaccurate.  Your customers use social media, and they use it every day. They may be checking their email first thing in the morning, which includes their Facebook statuses and their friend’s updates.  The way we communicate is much more fluid, more rapid and most likely, online.

Be aware of derogatory messages about your brand and be responsive.   Don’t hide from critical reviews, but address them with equally positive reviews from your customers.

Social media marketing, is first social, second media, and third marketing.  Keeping this in perspective will go a long way to your successful online branding and internet marketing campaign.

Filed Under: Blogging, Marketing Metrics, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Website Credibility, Website Design, Website Optimization

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

four × five =

Internet Marketing Insights

Apple stock

Marketing Launch Apple iPhone5s and 5c – Why The Pundits Are Wrong About The Stock Market

September 12, 2013 By Jody Raines Leave a Comment

Apple is brilliant when it comes to smartphone product launches and marketing strategy.  Already people are lined up and camping outside of their stores.  Why? A new iPhone was announced earlier this week.  SO why then did the stock market pricing for Apple drop?  Immediately after the announcement of the new Apple iPhone 5s and […]

best practices keywords

Top 5 Keyword Phrases For Best Practice Marketing Campaign Conversion

July 18, 2013 By Jody Raines Leave a Comment

Search Engine Optimization gets traffic to your website.  Traffic is great, but it’s the conversions that become leads that are important. Marketing that converts is the best kind of marketing because you can prove a cause and effect and therefore determine a return on the marketing investment. How do you know what the best marketing […]

Mobile Website

Mobile Marketing: Are You Ready For Mobile Internet?

June 15, 2011 By Jody Raines Leave a Comment

Mobile marketing or mobile internet marketing is an important opportunity for businesses to explore.  B2B or B2C, business marketers are investigating ways to tap into the popularity of smart phone usage as well as mobile browsers increased usage. Its powerful to have potential customers scan a code that takes them to a landing page on […]

Redesigning The Home Page? 8 Common Website Mistakes To Avoid

May 13, 2014 By Jody Raines 2 Comments

Redesigning the Website Homepage can result in greatly improved conversions when done well.  The first trick is finding a website designer who understands inbound marketing.    The process should begin with an evaluation of your existing online marketing campaign as well as your website to ensure that all  components work together in an effective and […]

Linkedin Fail

Social Media Fail: Are You Using Linkedin Wrong?

February 21, 2018 By Jody Raines Leave a Comment

If you had a dollar for every mistake that someone made using social media, you’d be a very wealthy person! In the meantime, the catalyst for this post was an email that I received from someone I am not well acquainted with, but who asked to connect with me on Linkedin. The letter began with, […]

  • Fly Eagles? Fly Dogs! How Social Media Changed A Mascot
  • QR Codes Are Dead? Long Live The QR Code!

Recent Posts

  • Social Media And Social Networking: Best Practices And Big Mistakes For LinkedIn
  • How To Develop An Online Brand
  • 3 Key Tips For Internet Branding
856.504.6066 Voorhees, NJ 08043

Copyright © 2021 Jody Raines | WebMaster· All For The Love Of Dogs