"Must-Have" Social Media Profiles For A Great Marketing Campaign

Social media platforms are the most popular destinations on the Internet. It started with the personal profile phenomenon, quickly evolved into video sharing profiles and then the floodgates opened up. Now internet users--including small businesses--have more than 400 social media platforms to consider.

Business people need to develop a social media advertising formula, a mix of sites that business owners must have in order to run a successful social media advertising campaign. Each social platform plays a very specific role, and the combination of the sites below along with keyword optimization on these sites will take your social advertising campaign to the next level.

Today, AdXPress Imprints takes a look at three popular platforms and gives tips on how you can optimize your presence through the use of keywords.

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. Tip: 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.

Facebook:  This is 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. Tip: Optimize your Facebook profile for one keyword and become the “go-to” expert in your industry for the more than 500 million Facebook users. Also, include some personal touches, but beware of putting too much personal information online.


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.  Tip: 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.

Tomorrow, AdXPress Imprints will look at two more social media platforms:   blogging and Twitter.

-----------------------

Source:  Heather Lutze has spent the last 10 years as CEO of The Findability Group, formerly Lutze Consulting, a search engine marketing firm that works with companies to attain maximum internet exposure. A nationally recognized speaker, she is the author of The FindAbility Formula: The Simple and Non-Technical Approach To Search Engine Marketing (Wiley & Sons). Lutze is a lead speaker for Pay Per Click Summit, and previously spent two years speaking for Yahoo! Search Marketing.

Grow Your Business (Organization) with Media Relations

Yesterday's issue focused on the value and effectiveness of the practice of media relations as a low-cost, high-results option to your marketing mix. Reporters and journalists can be intimidating, but these tips will help you to position yourself as a dependable and helpful source of knowledge for reporters.The end result will be free exposure for your business that's more far-reaching and valuable than advertising alone.

1. Reporters and editors often spend most of their time in the world of ideas. When you are engaged in conversation, remember to bring up the topic they like to talk about. In a similar vein, if you see a subject come up in the news you know will interest a reporter, copy and send it to him or her.

2. Don't let months pass without contact. If you stumble across an event or idea related to an area of the reporter's or editor's interest, call and leave a quick voicemail about it. The goal is relationship building. If the reporter or editor you would like to get to know is local, you can drop by the office (with appropriate notice) or even invite him or her to lunch.

3. When you are interviewed, give good quotes. Strive for simple, declarative sentences. Use concrete images. Answer the question. Help the reporter do a good job, and once again your effort will be appreciated. At the end of an interview, ask about other stories the reporter is currently covering. Explain how you may be able to contribute and offer a unique angle that may interest their audiences. And make it clear that you're eager to be an accessible source of information in the future.

4. Don't forget to maintain your relationships once they are established. Sometimes the reporter will call you as a source, but you just aren't right for that particular subject matter. You can still be helpful by suggesting another person to call. Or, if the reporter needs a second or third source to interview, suggest names of other people. The reporter will remember this and be grateful. Effective media relations are all about relationships. If you develop, nurture and maintain good relationships with reporters and editors, you will become the expert source they seek out time after time, which will help you stand out from the competition and boost your sales.
--------------------
Source: Pam Lontos is president of PR/PR, a public relations firm based in Orlando, Florida. She is author of I See Your Name Everywhere and is a former vice president of sales for Disney's Shamrock Broadcasting.

Avoiding Blacklisting: Making Sure Your Email Gets Through

by: Karen Fegarty

We all know that email is probably today's most popular way to advertise. Every day our inboxes are filled with messages from people who want our business--whether we asked for the contact or not. Email is today's biggest communication factor; but why shouldn't it be? It's all but free to use, and it's almost instantaneous.

But there is one problem with advertising via email that you may not think of very often: blacklisting. All it takes is one complaint, and your ISP or domain name can be put on someone's black list. If you're on the black list, your emails are not getting through--and neither is your advertising message.