WHAT ARE SOCIAL MEDIA, SEO, SEM AND CONTENT MARKETING?
To remain relevant in today’s marketing landscape, you have to have a strong foundation in all forms of internet marketing. You need to understand how your decisions shape your current strategy, and be aware of what the future holds as well. Marketing in the twenty-first century is a moving target that consists of a balance between a relevant social media network, a strong content marketing platform, and an integrated SEO strategy to tie it all together.
Social media gets a lot of press in today’s marketing world. Number of followers, likes, pins, tweets, all give a marketer standing in the ongoing competition to be seen, be heard, and be memorable.
• Are you using the right social media channels to reach your audience?
• Are your posts timely and engaging?
• Are people clicking through; in other words, are your social media tactics converting contacts into buyers?
These are all factors that need to be evaluated consistently and thoroughly. Your organization needs to have the elasticity to rapidly alter its strategy as the greater world of social media changes.
SEO and SEM are two acronyms that can mean headaches for marketing departments. SEO, or search engine optimization, uses the power of major search engines to elevate your product to the front of the pack. SEM, search engine marketing, is the financial investment you make in your optimized results. When managed and manipulated correctly, they can send a business soaring to the top of their industry. When ignored, they can leave them out of the all-important search engine picture. Any company that hopes to compete needs to rank high when a person does a search for their product or service. Especially when using search engines to market your product or service, you need to ensure that you're optimizing what your ideal buyer is looking for. It doesn’t matter what it is, or how they phrase it.
Content marketing is that extra bonus that sets your organization apart from your competition. It is the mechanism that creates raving fans and passionate subscribers. It can be used as a lead magnet to entice potential leads to sign up for a newsletter, a conference, an online course. It can be a spiff to thank customers for their purchase, and make your company memorable. It can be a way to engage clients and customers in your mutual success. Or it can be a total waste of time. Choosing the right content for your potential customer base makes all the difference.
Throughout this book, we will be looking at examples from different businesses to show how large and small businesses can successfully employ a social media strategy. We will also be comparing product-related businesses to service companies to determine what strategies might work for different types of organizations. Ultimately, all companies require a different balance of social media, SEO, SEM, and content marketing to get their message to their customers, and most importantly to convert that signal into sales.
Like baking a cake, if you add too much of any ingredient or leave something out, your cake will not taste good. The same can be said for the correct balance of marketing tools. All of the elements have to be placed into the mix at the right time, in the right order, in the right quantity and consistency. How you do that will depend on your business and your understanding of each of your key ingredients. Let’s start with some basic definitions before we delve into the details of each element.
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