Social Media Marketing is a critical piece of blog and business promotion…But not all social media sites are created equal…even those of us who spend an inordinate amount of time learning about the intimate details of each and every social media offering know that some of it is just for fun.

The question is, what’s for fun and what’s for work?

Social Media Marketing is part art form and part science. However, you can create a set of criteria to help you narrow the field of sites to consider. Keep in mind that for every site that is a part of your plan, you are adding an ongoing responsibility to interact with your community. You are investing time and energy into profile development, relationship building and ongoing posting…so make it worthwhile.

Choose sites that are most likely to reach a similar demographic to your customer base. Invest enough time to see who is using the site. Is it a forum for rock climbers and you sell books to people who are afraid of heights? Maybe not such a great fit. Check and see if you know others who are using it and get their feedback, look for site reviews, search the site itself for FAQ’s or other information.

Then, pick one or two sites and focus on them. Adding too much too soon can lead to disaster and a ton of profiles on unused sites. Watch your website and blog stats to start tracking the impact of your efforts.

By creating priorities and following your plan, you can limit the amount of unproductive time spent using the applications. You can always add additional sites if you find they are a really great fit.

Tags: Social Media Marketing

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 at 6:34 am and is filed under Blog Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.