Social Media Marketing
a new scenario
by Monica Farronato
Social Media Marketing Download italian PDF
The online world is changing. The approach to and use of the Internet by ordinary people is changing. Channels of access to the Internet are changing, and it is increasingly becoming a parallel dimension to reality, rather than an isolated environment in its own right. The web is becoming an increasingly virtual world, which is deeply intertwined with our own individuality.
As the way of using the Internet changes, so the way we “make” the Internet must change. The relation between actor-spectator, between agent-user is a dialogue, a two-voice composition, where every day, the “creators” of the web devise services and technologies which are interiorized so quickly as to disconcert those for whom the Internet is not an everyday field.
But for a company, as well as for the individual blogger, designing and consolidating one’s presence on the web today means considering and emphasizing this new approach to technology in a winning way.
- Understanding first. You need to be able to encrypt and trace the new synapses of the web. Everything is connected. Social networks connect people. The Web connects social networks. For a company or an individual, having only a website or a blog is no longer enough, you need to be everywhere on the web. You can no longer base your company's image solely on its website, or base your promotion solely on traditional banner campaigns. You need more.
- Spread the ego. You have to spread your image, your identity, the so-called digital identity, through the endless possibilities of the web. Do it quickly. And simultaneously, everywhere. Gather contacts and create a network within the network: your network.
- Simultaneously and instantaneously. Communicative information must spread quickly, instantaneously and simultaneously. The Internet is a parallel to reality, it is not reality. This parallel dimension of the ego lives and feeds on the information entered into it. If we build this reality a piece at a time, it will absorb all our energy and nothing will remain for reality itself. The web must be self-sustaining.
- Tools. And more tools. Replicate information effectively. One input, endless outputs. This is the work of the tools. There are many tools available and new ones appear every day. They are strategic resources with which to guard the web without giving in to it.
operational tools
Gli strumenti principali per gestire il nuovo scenario sono i seguenti:
- Blog Using the blog method of communication is a clever move. Firstly, users are familiar with this interactive form of communication and have now assimilated the patterns of reading and sharing. In addition, blogging platforms are designed and encoded to maximize the potential of cross-linking to a primary source of information.
- Creative Commons licenses Using Creative Commons licenses for content means promoting the dissemination of information and cross-blogging, as it allows the replication of content on third party websites and blogs while maintaining property rights. Replication of content is key to the spread and dissemination of the promotional message.
- Social Networks Use social networks as a means of promotion to constantly build and broaden your network.
- Blogging, microblogging, IM e bookmarking Take advantage of Twitter and other blogging, microblogging, IM and bookmarking circuits in order to keep a careful eye on all possible form of contact.
from theory to practice
Operating steps and methods:
- creating a main blog (articles, images, video channeling) specifically configured to automate SEO operations and reporting to search engines
- creating a profile/page on Facebook (articles, images, video channeling)
- creating a profile on YouTube, Vimeo (video channeling)
- creating a profile on Flickr (images channeling)
- creating profiles on different blogging, microblogging, IM and bookmarking circuits (Tumblr, LinkedIn, Identi.ca, Brightkite, FriendFeed, Plurk, Jaiku, Blogger, Bebo, hi5, Zanga, Wordpress,com, Friendster, Koornk, YouAre, Multiply, Flickr, TypePad, Technorati, Del.icio.us, Diigo, Digg.com, etc.)
- setting up tools for the simultaneous updating of social media
These activities constitute the tools for a widespread, extensive and open presence on the web. With these tools, a regular editorial staff dedicated to the project, however small, is capable of quickly producing substantial results.
These specific activities are to be considered in addition to the normal procedures which are implemented for the successful promotion of a site on the web, such as code optimization for indexing on search engines, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) activities and traditional web marketing campaigns.
definition of SMM
From Wikipedia: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media_marketing (english version http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media_marketing)
Social Media Marketing is a branch of marketing devoted to generating visibility on social media, virtual communities and 2.0 aggregators. Social Media Marketing encompasses a number of practices, which range from the management of online relations (PR 2.0) to the optimization of web pages made for Social Media (SMO, Social Media Optimization). In fact, the term is commonly used to refer to the management of integrated communications on the various platforms that Web 2.0 has provided and continues to provide (social networking sites, video and photo slide sharing, 2.0 communities, wiki, etc.. ). The main characteristic of these platforms is that they are not owned by the company (or person) who intends to establish such relations.
The aim of Social Media Marketing is to create a dialogue with users/consumers. The company, through its corporate blog or social networking websites, is able to forge a 1:1 relationship which brings the sender and recipient closer together.
A common example of Social Media Marketing is the viral marketing action that takes place on YouTube or other video sharing sites. The company, which may or may not reveal its true identity, publishes a piece of interesting and/or funny content with the goal of generating and spreading “hype”. In this way, a viral effect is produced which leads more and more users to view the video, thus ensuring that the message reaches as many users/consumers as possible.
