Social Media Marketing is a way that businesses and organizations can proactively engage their customers via channels such as Facebook.com, YouTube.com and Twitter.com.  These social media channels are the places where customers, your company’s customers, are spending many hours of their days and weeks.

The Importance of Social Media Marketing | TCSTirePower.com

In the past few months, both Tire Business and TCS have published information about Social Media Marketing.  TCS advises clients that participating in Social Media Marketing provides your company fairly instant communication with your customers about special offers on your products or services.

TCS also advises that companies use Social Media Marketing as an opportunity to give tips of advice that solve their customers concerns.  Social Media Marketing builds credibility and value for your brand in the online world.

Aside from the customer interaction it provides, Social Media Marketing goes hand in hand with the importance for ongoing Search Engine Optimization for a website.

SMM drives three critical elements of Off Page Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

1)     Traffic: There are hundreds of millions of people using social media every day.  Participating in social media gives your company the opportunity to direct some of that traffic to your web site or offerings.

2)     Leads: People who come to your website from a social media referral are already interested and think that you might have a solution to their problem. As such, site visitors from social media channels are primed to turn into leads that you can then work to turn into customers.

3)     Links: Every link back to your website from social media is an opportunity to get more traffic. Even if your reach is beyond your target market – i.e., even if there are people following you on social media who aren’t likely to become your customers or even leads – they can still provide you with valuable links and help you grow your trust with the search engines.

All three of these elements combined are critical to a website’s online visibility and success.

Social Media Marketing Tips Tire Businesses Need to Know

Set Up Your Social Media Accounts
You may already have social media accounts, but if you do not, get accounts set up today.  Create a central email account that will receive all the responses and account information from your social media accounts.  This is a great way to track activities as well as centralize your login information for ease of use.  If you do not have social media accounts, today is a great day to start.

Ensure That Your Social Media Accounts Have a Consistent Look and Feel
Your business needs a consistent look, feel and messaging across all mediums. Consistency in appearance and messaging communicates that you are serious about this venture that you have put thought into what you are doing in the “socialmediasphere”.  Be sure to post that your accounts are the “Official XYZ Company Fan Page” so that your customers and potential Social Media followers can trust the messaging as authentic.

Commit to 6 Months of Consistent Social Media Marketing
Six months may seem like a long time, but if you know what your goals are and plan out the topics and purpose of your postings, you’ll find that Social Media Marketing is not as daunting as it seems.

Convert Your Social Media Traffic
Social Media Marketing is about thought customer relationship management, public relations, leadership, web site and social media site traffic, online visibility, brand credibility and much more.  But Social Media Marketing is also about lead generation.

As you work with a Social Media Marketing Specialist, such as TCS, we will be able to show you how after the months of building trust and credibility socially is accomplished, that there are myriad opportunities to then present special offers to your social media following.

Would You Like to Ask Additional Social Media Marketing Questions?
If you have additional Social Media Marketing questions, we invite you to join Tire Business and TCS for a Social Media Marketing Q & A Session on Facebook on June 7, 2011.  More information on the event can be found on the Tire Business Facebook Fan Page or on the About TBlog.  While you are there, we invite you to “Like” both Tire Business and TCS for more Tire Industry news and Social Media Marketing information.