The content you're reading is getting on in years
This post is on the older side and its content may be out of date.
Be sure to visit our blogs homepage for our latest news, updates and information.
With the growth of Social Media, organizations are rapidly increasing their marketing resources in this channel. According to the 2011 CMO Survey social media investments are expected to reach 10,1% of the total marketing budgets in 2012. Therefore, marketers need to come up with effective strategies to monetize their investments, and optimize their social media efforts to produce measurable business outcomes.
How can social media be monetized? Five steps can guide you through to this objective:
You can start by scanning the web in order to identify the social media users who are actively involved in your industry and brand-related social conversations. They are the ones who can sway market trends and bring you an army of loyal brand followers to convert into paying customers.
As a next step, try to engage with these social users and spark their genuine interest. Humanizing your brand message so as to appeal to their personal interests is the best way to bring your brand closer to your audience. Thus, you will build a credible and loyal social community who is ready to spread your brand message across the social web.
Today’s social media users are eager to do a detailed research for your brand before proceeding to a purchase. They might read through relevant forums, click on your Facebook fan page, search for a branded channel of yours on YouTube, or scan the web for company related news. Leveraging a multi-channel social media strategy will help you attract users wherever they might be looking for your brand.
Your website is the hub where you build your brand message. Place it in the middle of your social media strategy in order to ensure that all secondary user-generated content is in line with your corporate values. Equip your webpages with social sharing buttons so that users can reach your social media properties with a single click.
Similarly, harness the power of your social media properties to bring traffic to your website. Design special sales and promos for your social followers, and make sure that every step of the conversion funnel at the website is instrumental for the completion of the purchase.
At the end of each social media campaign, take some time to measure the performance of each channel. This will give you detailed insights into the properties which bring the highest ROI, and will help you set the right priorities for the future campaigns.
Petya Popova-Chilikova manages the DataDirect Demand Generation team at Progress. She has 6+ years of web marketing experience working at different technology companies. Prior to joining the DataDirect team, Petya had taken different roles in the Sitefinity marketing organization with a focus on lead generation programs, online advertising, marketing automation and lead nurturing, product launches, customer reference and partner co-marketing, event management and other areas.
Let our experts teach you how to use Sitefinity's best-in-class features to deliver compelling digital experiences.
Learn MoreSubscribe to get all the news, info and tutorials you need to build better business apps and sites
Progress collects the Personal Information set out in our Privacy Policy and the Supplemental Privacy notice for residents of California and other US States and uses it for the purposes stated in that policy.
You can also ask us not to share your Personal Information to third parties here: Do Not Sell or Share My Info
We see that you have already chosen to receive marketing materials from us. If you wish to change this at any time you may do so by clicking here.
Thank you for your continued interest in Progress. Based on either your previous activity on our websites or our ongoing relationship, we will keep you updated on our products, solutions, services, company news and events. If you decide that you want to be removed from our mailing lists at any time, you can change your contact preferences by clicking here.