Practical Social Media Marketing

By:  Charlotte Kemp, Niche Training

Adding social media to your marketing mix for your business should be a natural decision in today’s modern online and connected world.   It does sometimes get some bad press because people worry that they or their staff are perhaps wasting their time.  However, before you discount social media consider if you would now also throw out your telephone for the private calls that staff make or if you would disable emails for the inevitable personal emails that circulate.

Social media is meant to be social.  But because it is relatively new, we are not always sure how to use it in a business model.  We still need to learn best practices and staff need to be trained on how to use it for marketing, just as we attend telephone etiquette sessions and customer relations courses. 

Consider your marketing strategy and deliberately incorporate one or two social media sites into that plan.  Do not let them be optional extras but build them into the plan.  Don’t do the work when you are finished with traditional or ‘real’ marketing either or else you will never take them seriously or see the value.

My recommendation is normally, but depending on the nature of the business, a Facebook business page and LinkedIn.  The Facebook Business page represents your business on Facebook and allows you to market in that arena, to a broad spectrum of people.   It is very powerful for retail or hospitality business for example.  I strongly recommend a LinkedIn profile for anyone with a professional career or who markets themselves.  It is one of the most highly regarded social networking sites worldwide for business and for job seeking too.   Get started with those two as a platform for the rest. 

Contact Charlotte on 082 491 9252, charlotte@nichetraining.co.za, www.nichetraining.co.za

BOOK NOW!
DYNAMIC SOCIAL MEDIA - HOW TO MARKET YOUR BUSINESS WITH SOCIAL MEDIA
TRAINER:  Charlotte Kemp – Niche Training
DATE:  14 June 2011
TIME:  08:30 – 14:30 (includes lunch)
VENUE:  Chamber House, Royal Showgrounds
COST (INCLUDES VAT)
Members:  R800 per head, R750 for 3 or more, R700 for 5 or more
Non-members:  R1 050 per head, R1 000 for 3 or more, R950 for 5 or more
OVERVIEW
This marketing course will demonstrate how to effectively use social media to promote your business, non-profit organisation or yourself as a solo professional.  Elements covered include Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogging and creating a strategy.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND
This training is for people who already know a little about social media and have some authority in the business concerned.

To book contact Lorna, 033 345 2747, function@pcb.org.za, www.pcb.org.za

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