How SEO Consultants Can Use Social Media Marketing to Achieve Results in Political Campaigns

Social media marketing has become an essential method of campaigning for political office. During the U.S. presidential campaign in 2008, the Barack Obama campaign team had harnessed the power of social media advertising to achieve victory. This was a phenomenon at that time.

While it is not the only marketing component of any political campaign, social media is certainly a primary one. The reason it plays such a major role can be attributed to the following factors:

1. Better demographic targeting

2. Increased word of mouth (often argued to be the best form of advertising)

3. Greater cost effectiveness

4. A superior ability to generate hype

1 - Targeting Your Demographic Is Easy Online

Unlike conventional advertising in TV or Radio, Social media advertising can be highly targeted. Whereas television and radio may boast a high number of "impressions," these may be unlikely voters. On the web, targeting is much more concentrated and accurate. Facebook, Twitter and StumbleUpon advertising can be placed only in front of those who would be likely to vote for your candidate, statistically making these individuals more aware of your campaign.

The trick is to capture people when they are in the position to explore a topic. When consumers are web surfing, they are already in the "mode" to do so. TV and radio usually try to engage people when they are focused on a drive to work or watching a favorite television show with family.

People are more likely to really delve into the details of your candidate when they are online. And remember, they can press a "Like" button or join a mailing list, which ensures you will have their attention throughout the remainder of the campaign whenever they are online. This simply cannot be done with TV or radio.

2 - Social Media Marketing is One of the Most Effective Methods of Spreading the Word

Word of mouth is one of the most excellent ways to create a buzz. Social media facilitates that on a grand scale more rapidly than any other method. People are reached where they are comfortable, in a place where they are in a position to quickly show everyone they know where they stand about a candidate.

When a hot button issue comes up, your followers are going to link to your positions on this. All you need to do is put up links to videos and other content with a strong headline. Soon it will be re-posted on status updates everywhere in Twitter and Facebook and featured in email "forwards."

3 - Social Media Is More Cost Effective than Any Other Form of Marketing

Because the medium itself is "free" in many ways, to use, you only need to pay for the time it takes your staff to update and interact with your social media outlets. This reduces the budget needed for conventional advertising, while simultaneously increasing its effectiveness.

In addition, many software programs facilitate and reduce the time needed to maintain the different social media accounts.

When some paid advertising is needed it will be less expensive to place ads on different social media platforms like Facebook and StumbleUpon than it would be to do on other media (television, radio, print, etc.).

4 - Hype Sells

Let's face it: hype can arguably be as powerful, if not more powerful than content. This is why generating a buzz online is absolutely quintessential. Social media makes it possible to go "viral" quickly, and in a seemingly organic fashion.

Research has shown that consumers are more likely to respond to what they believe is their own idea or the idea of a friend or family member than they are to respond to something that seems corporate-driven or commercially rooted.

In Conclusion: It's a New Era

Times have changed. For instance, when Obama was elected, Myspace played a huge role. Now, Myspace has become virtually irrelevant, while Twitter and Facebook are the favorites now. That may not last forever. YouTube shows no signs of slowing down, and certainly needs to be one of the primary resources of any social media political campaign strategy.

Keeping up with the latest trends in social media is currently the key to success at marketing virtually anything. Social media marketing is now one of the most actively used advertising methods and are having the greatest impact on instituting expansive publicity for various causes. Political campaign managers must aim to be one step ahead of the opposing candidate's campaign. The chances of winning the race are maximized by finding the most experienced social media marketing consultant and starting your political social media campaign as early as possible.

Nashat Mostafa is the founder and CEO of SEO 7 Services. Throughout an extensive career as a Montreal search engine optimization consultant, Mostafa has worked along side many companies both large and small, to plan and execute effective, results-driven internet marketing campaigns. He has also arranged many SEO training seminars and has published countless articles, in an effort to assist small business owners - in taking advantage of the latest trends in SEO and social media marketing, achieving top search engine placement positions, boosting website traffic, increasing conversion rates and improving Return on Investment (ROI). Montreal SEO 7 Services is well-established in the field of internet marketing and search engine optimization, serving a broad range of industries from fashion and jewellery manufacturers to medical data and software development companies.

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Social Media Marketing for Measurable Business Results

Social media marketing has been a catchphrase for a few years now, and everyone knows that they're "supposed" to use social media to boost business. But how do actual businesses get a return on investment from using social media platforms like today's two biggest ones, Facebook and Twitter?

Business Week magazine did a survey of 100 mid-sized businesses and basically asked them what they were doing social media-wise, and how it was working out for them. The results were dispiriting: only 8% of the businesses surveyed said that the effort they'd put into social media marketing actually drove business results. What did this 8% do that the other 92% didn't? Let's check it out.

First of all, lots of mid-sized companies are using social media. Business Week's survey showed that 74% of them use Twitter, 71% use Facebook, 53% use YouTube, and 36% use blogging. But the survey suggests that there are three elements that appear to be common to those businesses that have reported actual success in their social marketing.

First of all, these are companies that have developed media listening skills. Listening is, of course, a very important part of social dynamics, yet lots of businesses don't listen to what their customers are saying. The ones who succeed with it are those that monitor blogs, Twitter, and various online communities to pick up on consumer sentiment, and what's more, they consider what consumers are saying and actually respond to it. Yet only about a third of social marketers even bother to monitor these media!

Second, they use a multi-step approach to figuring out exactly what consumers are saying and what their responses can accomplish. For example, media might displace some traditional consumer research. Or it might be useful in pre-emptying the spread of negative information. The companies that successfully navigate this milieu are the ones that at least attempt to measure the return on value of the components of their participation in media exposure. Rather than, for example, just counting how many Facebook friends they have, they track click-throughs from Facebook users in the company's target demographic.

Third, they rightly see social media as a way to improve their brand's competitive position by creating a whole new type of value for customers. For example, Best Buy decided to put retail staff who were competent in answering consumer electronics questions into a Twitter-based help force. This alone shifted customer expectations about the experience of buying electronics, changing the game for competitors as well.

A social media marketing strategy involves far more than just setting up accounts on Facebook and Twitter. Companies have to learn to listen to what customers are saying, and not just use these platforms for pushing their products. And they need to develop ways of measuring whether they're getting a return on their investment, and come up with novel ways to use it to give customers something competitors aren't giving. If you don't know where to begin with all this, then you should consider working with professional social media marketing services, who know the ins and outs of using these exciting new platforms to get positive, real business results.

I'm here to help you find a marketing executive for your social media marketing needs and to look no further than my friend Lee Traupel who has the knowledge and expertise to promote your website or company via social media marketing services.

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Social Media Marketing: 8 Powerful Social Media Strategies That Get Results

Social media marketing is the new way of advertising for both large and small companies. It doesn't matter whether you have 50 clients or five million; your business can benefit from the power of advertising via social media. If you want to improve your advertising and increase your sales, here are eight powerful strategies that will bring you the most benefits.

1. Meet Your Customers Where They Are

One of the greatest benefits of marketing through social media is that your customers are already on the social networks. They have Facebook profiles, follow their Twitter streams and regularly watch videos on YouTube. With this power, you don't have to wait for your customers to come to you or the advertising channels you've used in the past. You can instead target them in an environment they already feel comfortable using. This will make it easier for them to navigate your messages and build relationships with your business.

2. Set the Conversation

When you use social media to connect with your audience, you get the chance to set the conversation. Consumers have more power than ever to research their purchases ahead of time and to find out what others have thought of your products. Many people look online for both positive and negative reviews before trying a new company. Through social media, you can decide what aspects of your product people will focus on. Start conversations and ask people about their favorite features. Begin a dialogue to find out what improvements people would like to see made. When you're open about your company, customers will know they can trust your brand.

3. Build Your Reputation

Though you may already know how important it is to build your rankings on search engines so that you get more traffic, you also need to consider your online reputation. A high-ranking on a search engine doesn't mean much if people don't know whether or not to trust you once they find your page. By using social media to connect with your customers, you develop a sense of social proof that will make new customers feel more comfortable doing business with you.

4. Keep up with the Competition and Make Connections

While most advertising solutions will help you to stay on the same level as your competitors, there are few that allow you to so easily monitor what your competitors are doing. When you're actively engaged in social networks, you can easily look at strategies that other companies use in order to figure out what's working and what's not. Social media marketing also gives you the opportunity to start building relationships with other business owners. You'll be able to make new connections that can easily take your business to new heights.

5. Develop and Sustain Relationships

It's a basic tenet of social media, but still essential: use social media channels to build relationships with your customers. This is perhaps the most profound benefit that social media can offer your business and it will bring you dramatic results. The first step here is to develop relationships with your customers and to provide them with a reason to trust your business. Once you've established a baseline for the type of communications your company will send out, be sure to sustain relationships with continued engagement.

6. Provide as Much Value as Possible

Always provide your customers with as much relevant information as possible. Your focus should be on providing them with useful content before you begin pitching any products or services. Post links through Facebook or Twitter to interesting articles or studies that are relevant to your industry. You can also use a URL shortener like bit.ly to pack more into your tweets.

7. Offer the Right Discounts to the Right People

Be sure you're offering the right types of discounts to your customers. Keep in mind that a coupon or sale that will actually get them in the door to your business or have them checking out your purchase page can be a great investment. While it can certainly be valuable to give people a deal for liking your Facebook page or following you on Twitter, in many cases, you should focus more on customers that are already interested in what you have to offer. A paying customer is more valuable than a fan who might not ever check back.

8. Use Social Media to Your Advantage

Focus on the social media channels that are relevant to your customer base and be sure that you're always keeping your audience in mind. The latest networks may seem like a great opportunity, but if your customers aren't using them, you won't find many followers or new clients. Instead, focus on using the social media marketing tools that your customers know and love so that you engage on a deeper level.

Now that you know these strategies get my free report here: Maximum Impact Social Media Tactics.

Enrique Barba is the principal of Sway New Media where he provides premium SEO services, Social Media Management and Marketing resources.

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7 Social Media Tactics For Explosive Results in Your Business

First, let's define the term Explosive Results for our usage.

A standard social media campaign helps spread the word about you and encourages other people to as well.

An explosive social media campaign has inherent viral exposure, inspires community driven communication, helps make the web a better place, and even brings joy to people, however fleeting.

When you share in social media, if your goal is just to get more people to see your links, you're on the right track, but at the same time, you're limiting your potential. You may think that getting explosive results from social media will take more time, energy and money, but this doesn't have to be the case.

If you're a business owner, you know that working harder doesn't necessarily mean better results - what if you're working hard on the wrong thing?

Sometimes the remedy is working smarter. Here are a few small changes you can make to your social media approach that can propel your social media results from lukewarm to smoking hot.

Explosive Social Media Tactic #1 - Hot Content

The cornerstone to any social media campaign is the content. If you get this component wrong, it doesn't matter if all other elements are perfect. Study what's going hot in your targeted topic and find a unique angle to fit your content into what people already like, without stealing their ideas.

Explosive Social Media Tactic #2 - Niched Network Nuances

The more tightly focused your submissions to social media sites are, the more likely they are to go viral, whether they are links you share by other people or your own. Here's the logic.

People follow other people with similar interests. They're on sites like Google, Yahoo, StumbleUpon, Delicious and Digg actively looking for new content. Put those two things together and you have a whirlwind of clicks happening. The only question is, will it be your link that gets clicked or passed over?

Having 5000 connections on Twitter or Facebook is useless if you are connected to people who don't want your broadcasts, and you're just as useless to them if you don't want theirs. If my interest is in improving my existing business and you're trying to get me to sell your network marketing products, it doesn't matter how many times you ask me. If I'm not interested, your continued broadcasts will be ignored, or worse yet, blocked completely.

It's about the perfect balance of quality AND quantity.

And if I'm not paying attention to you, I can't and won't spread your message. If you are in network marketing, why not go after people who love the network marketing concept but can't seem to find the right company? That's a perfect match, and can dramatically cut down your search for the right partners and prospects.

Explosive Social Media Tactic #3 - Simplify Sharing

It amazes me how many people miss this one.

You've got great content. You've got a massive, niched network.

Why feed them content that's hard to share? Does that report have to be in PDF format? If so, does it have to be behind an opt-in wall if you're spreading it among people who have Already opted in? Anyone connected to your business through its Facebook page, or your Twitter stream is also part of your opt-in list. Yes, it would be best if they were on your email newsletter list, but what faster way to get them there than to show them you don't need to hold them prisoner there?

If your whitepaper is of such high value that you don't Want it to spread, well, that's something different. But if you're sharing it so other people will spread it, make it easy for others to share.

Send your su.pr link so all they have to do is click the Thumbs-Up button.

Put a few sharing links on your page.

Make it easy for them to Retweet.

The easier it is for them to share, the more likely they are to do it.

Explosive Social Media Tactic #4 - Consistency

And now we come to the area I fail at the most. It's one of the things I know I need to do, but I haven't quite gotten the hang of how to brainstorm, create and distribute quality content consistency, and still give them best possible service and support to my customers and clients. I always err on serving people who have bought from me, figuring that next blog post can wait until tomorrow.

Then at some point, I noticed a decline in return traffic - people weren't coming back because they'd already heard everything I had to say. The solution? I got help for my content creation process. The ideas are still mine, but I was able to barter help for research, transcribing, and editing. I am also able to get audio and video polished much less expensively than I thought, though I don't always use this option due to time constraints.

The other thing that helped a lot was getting over my perfectionism complex. Release your content as soon as you can. I can't tell you how much money I've left on the table from my old fear of the typo and grammar police. Not to mention the fact that I felt like I was leaving my audience hanging.

You subscribe to something because you want to get regular updates. If your favorite daily news show started coming on once a week, you'd probably switch channels. If you're inconsistent without explanation, your audience numbers will drop and your network will fade.

Explosive Social Media Tactic #5 - Think Engagement

Measuring your results by page view alone is a thing of the past. When the web was mostly text and images, it made some sense that how many pages a visitor viewed at your site was a true measure of engagement.

Nowadays this isn't the case. You want to look instead at how long people are at your site. The exception, of course, is when customers are coming to your site to buy, and the order processing system takes them off your page. But if people aren't leaving your site because they're ready to buy or subscribe, you truly must look at why they aren't paying more attention to your content, and what changes you can make to get them to stay.

This is critically important in understanding which content will go viral naturally. What posts are people staying on your site to comment on? When do they take a few extra seconds to retweet? Are they watching your videos all the way through?

Once you know the content your audience is most connected to, and why, you can make more of it.

Explosive Social Media Tactic #6 - Three-Way Connection and Communication

That's not a typo. Three-way communication is when the way you conduct yourself online is observed to a third party, who is also indirectly being addressed by your manner or statement. I wish I could credit the proper author of this, but I just don't remember who it was who first observed that three people are positively affected by an act of kindness - the person giving, the person receiving, and the person observing.

One example of this in action is having a conversation with a peer about their new product on a social media site. Your friend is probably Dying to tell someone about the testimonial they just got, but don't want to be rude or are too humble to brag. Ask them in front of your audience, and the conversation is exposed to your connections and re-exposed to theirs.

Connection is just as important - if communication is the conveyance of information, connection is doing so in a way that bonds. A several hundred closely bonded contacts will spread your message faster and farther than several thousand distant aquaintances.

Explosive Social Media Tactic #7 - What's In It for All?

In the 80s, we all thought about what was in it for ourselves. In the 90s we decided to focus on others, hence, what's in it for them. Today, we're in the age of the win-win-win situation. Tell them how you benefit and tie it to their benefit.

Want someone to help you spread your stories? Make sure they know how important it is to you, why you came to them for help, and how they'll be perceived for being the bearer of your good news.

You may look at the list above and feel that it's intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. Focus on doing just one of these things better each day for a few weeks, and before you know it, you'll be doing them habitually. The results you'll get will help these new habits stick.

Can you really get up to 27,000 visitors in a week from social media? I did and I can show you how to do the same without cheating the system, or spending 20 hours a week on social media sites. Find out how in this free video at http://www.freetraffictip.com/27kvisitors and see the proof for yourself, today.

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