Baber Direct Marketing: Social Media Strategist, Memphis

This is where a massive amount of marketing is taking place. It's the ultimate opportunity to create a dialogue that every company can use to connect with customers and prospects. It's the place where the consumer creates the marketing for the company.

Twitter is a place for casual conversation.
It's like being at a large cocktail party where you know some people and not others. At a cocktail party you may see a couple you haven't talked to in a long time and strike up a conversation with them. Then you might talk to a close friend that you talk to every day. At a cocktail party, you can also connect with people that you don't know but who may know you and vice versa. Someone may ask about your business or tell you they've heard you're an expert at some business application. Tweets are 140 characters short. To Baber Direct, this is why it's so successful. People want short bursts of information. As of April 2011, there are 200 million users who
Tweet 50 million times daily.

Facebook Another great place to have casual conversations but Facebook is more visual than Twitter. People expect to see pictures and graphics on Facebook so be prepared. They also expect it to be fun so contests and questions that compel a response should be considered in your mix of posts. As of April 2011, Facebook has 550 million users and 50% of them log on every day.

You Tube is now the 2nd largest search engine after Google. Two billion visitors a day are looking for everything from entertainment to business solutions to "how to" instructions, government assistance and something that you may offer. You can get followers on You Tube just like with followers on Twitter and "likes" on Facebook. You can become a leader in your industry by offering simple, easy to follow videos that educate your followers or provide solutions to their individual needs. YouTube can show your manufacturing process, show machines running or it could be a great place to introduce a little humor in the midst of your business dealings.

If Twitter is a cocktail party, LinkedIn is a formal sit-down dinner. More professional than Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn is the way to connect with other professionals in a more formal business environment. You can become an expert in your industry by spending time in the "Answers" section where people pose questions looking for solutions to their business challenges. People rate your answers here. The higher your rating, the more people will come to you. You can also give recommendations to people and get recommendations from them that make you more of an expert and
the go-to person in your field.
 

The Social Media Marketing Plan
We believe every case is different. Each company must take into mind its own unique circumstances in the marketplace and create a plan that works for them. You have to determine which networks work for you and which ones you're willing to navigate and use to your benefit. You set goals, implement, monitor and update and then measure the results.