Integrating Social Media Into Your Current Marketing

Are you interested in integrating your marketing to include social media channels?

The first question, then, is: “What are you doing now?”

The odds are that you’re doing some things that can be leveraged into social media activities very nicely. Start with an inventory of all your non–social web activities.

Think about what you do and who you do it for, or in front of:

• Print products (brochures, flyers, etc.): What do you produce? How often? Who sees it?
• Websites: Do you have one or more websites? For whom are they geared?
• E-mails: What e-mail communications do you send? How often? Who sees them? 
• Advertisements: Do you have any TV, radio, print, web, or other advertisements? Where, when, and how often do they appear? Who sees them?
• Print articles: Do you write articles or guest columns? How often? For which publications? Who is the target audience?
• Case studies and testimonials: Do you collect or create these materials? From whom? What do you do with them?
• Surveys: Do you take surveys? Of whom? How often? What information do you collect?
• Membership in organizations: Are you involved in any trade, peer, general business, community, or charitable organizations? Who else is involved (audience)? How do you interact with others in the organization?
• Activities or programs: Do you sponsor any of these? If so, what are they?
• Events, classes, or seminars: Do you attend events, classes, or seminars? Which ones? Who else is there?
• Speaking engagements, seminars, webinars: Do you accept speaking engagements and for whom? Does your company host events, or are they hosted by other organizations? Where are they held?
• Media appearances: Do you appear on TV, radio, print, or on the Web as a resource or quoted expert? 

Other opportunities for sharing are our day-to-day interactions such as talking to people, e-mailing them, and print correspondence (including invoices). Any one of these activities can be bridged into another, or into your social media initiatives, as appropriate.

Remember, though, the tone in the social web is MUCH different than in advertising or traditional media.

De-fluff and de-spin with your actions online. In fact, I suggest you do so everywhere. No one likes gobbledygook and spin. 

Social media doesn't have to be a lot of extra work "on top of" what you're already doing.

There are undoubtedly a lot of untapped opportunities to build your reputation as a skilled, credible professional and perhaps even a “specialist” by maximizing what you already do.  

In the comments, let us know how you've made the most of an activity by leveraging it across multiple channels.

 

Above includes modified excerpt from Social Media Strategies for Professionals and their Firms (2010, Wiley).