Marketing Through Social Media

Is marketing through social media any differentthan traditional forms of marketing? In some respects it is quite different - thecommon thread with all social media is that marketing is most successful whenit is authentic.

People using these mediums expect to learnsomething about the person behind the ‘brand’ – which is where some of thelarger companies have failed and where SME’s can capitalise. It is where womencan have a slight advantage, as they are often more likely to seek and developauthentic online networks.
There are of course decisions to be made abouthow much you share on social media. It can be easy to forget that oncesomething is online, it really isn’t ‘private’. So talking about and postingpictures of your family, while they may add to people getting to know ‘the realyou’, also poses security and privacy issues. So I definitely advise cautionwhen deciding how much information to share. Keep it friendly, but ask yourself“would I share this with the person in front of me at the checkout?”. If not,you probably shouldn’t post it in social media!

But as with any marketing, the key isprojecting a consistent ‘brand’. Social media can be used to showcase yourbusiness’ ‘personality’ and provide your target market with additionalinformation that you can’t do via traditional forms of marketing.

Michelle Grice runs DotCom Women, an online forum for entrepreneurial women:www.dotcomwomen.com.au