6 Ways to Upgrade Your Social Media Marketing

In honor of my 60th TwitterMoms post, I thought I'd share with you 6 easy ways you can upgrade your social media marketing today!

1) Monitor Twitter

Many people set up a Twitter account and simply post, post, post, but where you're missing the real value of Twitter is in the ability to monitor for key words related to your business. If you're a restaurant, for example, set up a tool like Tweetdeck to monitor for key words like "place to eat New York City" etc., or if you're an online toy store, look for things like "Christmas gifts boy". Now, what do you do when you come across such tweets? Simply respond in a very conversational, non-salesly manner and link to your Website. You may just have found yourself a new customer!

2) Help someone else

One of the most important facets of social media is the "social" part. Help someone else and you're likely to not only help them, but yourself in the process. Link to a blog post they did that you liked with your commentary or post them as a #followfriday recommendation on Twitter. Ask them to guest blog (now you've got a blog post done and someone to promote it for you!) or "tag" them or their page on Facebook. They will likely return the favor and you can help promote one another.

3) Set up a YouTube Channel

Video is one of the most commonly missed ways to maximize social media. YouTube is the second most searched site behind Google, and you want to show up when someone searches there for key words related to your business. Get yourself a Flip video camera and record a couple informative videos. Once you feel comfortable, you might even venture into the realm of viral videos and try to come up with something funny or entertaining. Remember to link to your website in the video description and use appropriate key words.

4) Set up Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a free service you can add to your website to see where traffic is coming from and what they are doing. The best social media campaign isn't worth much if you can't see what it did for you. With Google Analytics, you can see who's coming to your site from the various tools, which blog posts topics are the most popular and which pages are getting the most traffic. Then tweak your social media campaign accordingly after reviewing this data at least monthly.

5) Use social bookmarking sites

Sites like StumbleUpon, Reddit and Kirsty, which let users share their favorite links across the web, can be great drivers of website traffic and are another outlet besides Facebook and Twitter to promote videos and blog posts. Be sure to go in and enter your links weekly and encourage others to give them a "thumbs up" or a "stumble". You'll thank me :)

6) Read Mashable

Mashable is a great resource to get ideas of social media campaigns that have worked well, see what other people are doing and learn about new tools and resources that may benefit your business. Read Mashable and you just may keep a "step ahead" of your competition!

About Lyn Mettler

Lyn is the mother of two young boys, a social media nerd and the founder of Step Ahead Inc., a company which combines the best of traditional public relations with social media campaigns and Internet marketing to maximize visibility for clients both online and off. She is the social media featured blogger for TwitterMoms.com, has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and Entrepreneur magazine, and also blogs regularly on her company website. Follow her on Twitter at @webprgirl.

Tags: analytics, bookmarking, google, mashable, social, tmfc, tmmoney&business, twitter, youtube

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Comment by Lyn Mettler on November 7, 2010 at 2:00pm: Well, there are some cheaper versions out there if you look around. It is well worth the spend if you can come up with the money and they seem to be coming down all the time in price. There are lots of contests that give them away as a prize too.

Comment by Jenny on November 4, 2010 at 9:18pm: Lol I love that...

"get a flip camera"

I'd love to! but I'd also love to know where the money for it will come from ;P

Comment by Linda Socha Jaworski on October 27, 2010 at 10:39pm: This is fantastic, thanks!I just released my first children's book in the US and I am new to online marketing - I will be bookmarking this and putting the information to good use! :)

My Christmas book, website, and many cool children's crafts, recipes, and poems will be coming out soon. If anyone would like to add me on Twitter and/or Facebook please feel free!

http://twitter.com/LindaSJaworski

Comment by Lyn Mettler on October 26, 2010 at 11:38am: You will LOVE Google Analytics, Maisha. It's fascinating info that is so helpful. Just followed you back on Twitter :)

Comment by Lynne Kenney on October 25, 2010 at 11:27am: Lyn, You write a great blog! TY LMK

Comment by Lyn Mettler on October 25, 2010 at 8:17am: That's great Lea! Blogs are one of my favorite tools right now. Done properly, they can drive SO much traffic to your website! Shout if you need advice.

Comment by Lea Curtes-Swenson on October 25, 2010 at 8:11am: Awesome, Lyn! I'm going to share with my husband, who's new to social media... he's starting a blog called Your Dental Edge, which is for dental practitioners who want to gain a competitive edge.

Comment by Lyn Mettler on October 24, 2010 at 6:50pm: Thanks everyone! So glad it was helpful!

Comment by Lorna d'Entremont on October 24, 2010 at 4:12pm: Thanks Lyn for these 6 tips about social media marketing! Eh! congrats on your 60 th post! Way to go!

Comment by Tameka Linnell on October 22, 2010 at 1:13pm: Thankyou for the great info! Im new to Twittermoms and learning the ropes, the help is appreciated!