Your Social Media Marketing Plan for 2013 - It starts NOW!

WW Design Studios has been developing new techniques over the past year to help our clients become pro-active with their social media marketing plans.  It is important to keep the content as true and unique as possible. Over the past few months, we have been putting together a list of social media examples to use for marketing.  The original list started off quite large with over one hundred examples, and has since tripled in density with the help of many SEO companies specializing in the field.  We could probably come up with over one thousand examples instead of the two lists below, but this would be completely overwhelming for someone to manage without the help of a professional social media manager.

The current list of media marketing tools has been narrowed down to two complete lists gearing towards small businesses and gives us a pretty good sample to think about. Consumers still use quite a broader set of social tools than corporations, but different categories of these marketing tools aren’t emerging as quickly today, giving brands a chance to catch up to all the buzz.  Now it’s time to take a few minutes and master your social media skills while you have a chance to catch a breath. 

This first list is geared towards the most common social tools available:

1. Facebook (Signup)
2. Twitter (Signup)
3. LinkedIn (Signup)
4. Foursquare (Signup)
5. Blogger (Signup)
6. Bookmarking (Delicious, Diigo, StumbleUpon)
7. Identi.ca (Signup)
8. Plurk (Signup)
9. Socialcast (Signup)
10. Sonico (Signup)
11. Status.net (Signup)
12. Tumblr.com (Signup)
13. Typepad (Signup)
14. Live.com (Signup)
15. WordPress (Signup)
16. Yahoo (Signup)
17. Yammer (Signup)

As corporate adoption emerges, there’s nothing wrong with learning lessons from others and making them your own.  Start by making sure you have all of your bases covered with the major tools.  Not all will apply to your marketing campaign.

Here’s a framework of 22 tools to consider with notable brand examples for a corporate identity:

1. Blogs (Johnson & Johnson, Delta Air Lines)
2. Bookmarking/Tagging (Adobe, Canon)
3. Brand monitoring (Dell)
4. Content aggregation (Alltop, News Line)
5. Crowdsourcing/Voting (Oracle, Starbucks)
6. Discussion boards and forums (IBM)
7. Events and meetups (Molson, Pampers)
8. Mashups (Chili’s, Nike)
9. Microblogging (method, Whole Foods)
10. Online video (Eukanuba, Home Depot)
11. Organization and staffing (Ford)
12. Outreach programs (Nokia, Yum Brands)
13. Photosharing (Rubbermaid, UK Government)
14. Podcasting (Ericsson, McDonalds)
15. Presentation sharing (CapGemini, Daimler AG)
16. Public Relations – social media releases (Avon, Intel)
17. Ratings and reviews (TurboTax)
18. Social networks: applications, fan pages, groups, and personalities (British Airways, Saturn)
19. Sponsorships (Whirlpool)
20. Virtual worlds (National Geographic, Toyota)
21. Widgets (Southwest Airlines, Target)
22. Wikis (Linksys, T-Mobile Sidekick)

And use this username check tool to see if your brands/preferred handles are still available.

I haven’t found a single company doing all of these today. Forget about analyzing them all before getting started – you’ll end up in analysis paralysis. Just make sure you’re making an existing business function better and get started.

Social media tools are rapidly turning into the candy store of the Internet – there are so many of them that the choice is overwhelming, especially for small business owners who are pressed for time and just want to get something done. Not to worry, there are 12 most common tools used in order to end most of your havoc.
Read the article “Top 12 Social Media Tools For Business” for help – To Be Posted By 9-15-12

Your Social Media Marketing Plan for 2013 - It starts NOW!