It often seems that whenever a new “dominant” type of media emerges, coaches and consultants tell all of their clients about it, agencies begin their pitches, and information marketers start selling it as the magic pill that is going to move your business to the next level. Is social media marketing that new magic pill? Will it work for your business or practice?
When it comes to understanding the “new media” known as social media marketing, there are a few things that will help you understand why this might work or not work.
The first thing is what Seth Godin calls “The Purple Cow”. This concept means, basically, does your product or service push the boundaries of your industry? Are you offering the same thing that everyone else does, or do you have a unique take on your industry that will be making leaps and bounds into the future?
Being unique is very important with social media marketing, but that in and of itself is not enough to determine whether it will work for you. One thing that people tend to misunderstand about the Internet, is the sheer number of people using it, and what they are looking for. On the Internet, people search for very specific things. Whether they are looking for a doctor who treats the chronic condition fibromyalgia in Menomonee Falls, WI or for someone who knows how to fix redwood siding in Sausalito, CA, the new internet consumer wants their information, and they want it now. This is a form of the concept of “The Long Tail” by Chris Anderson. Although some people will know to search a general category so they can shop their problem around, it’s those who can be in front of the consumer when its time to make that buying decision that will ultimately succeed.
So now that you have a basic understanding of a “Purple Cow” and “The Long Tail”, it’s also important to understand the power of sharing information and proper education of your visitors. In the early days of the internet, huge efforts were made to “trick” the search engines using so called “Black Hat” techniques. Keywords were stuffed, meta tags altered, gateway pages created in and effort to get to the top of the listings. These days, Google and Yahoo know better, and this is the reason you see great content like blogs, facebook profiles, and article sites showing up in the search results. As you can see, sharing content, especially good content that can get spread throughout the internet, position you as the expert in your field, and build your brand, will generate leads.
To learn more about Social Media Marketing for Business, fill out the form on the right to watch our free video series or give me a call at 877-673-7096.
Thank You, and I encourage you to leave and comments or questions below. To learn more about the video series, Medical Professionals should click here and Entrepreneurs should click here.
Article by Matthew Arndt, President, Turbo Social Media
About The Author: Matthew Arndt is a Social Media Marketing Expert. He is the president of Turbo Social Media and has developed proactive strategy and implementation programs to help Medical Professionals and Entrepreneurs to expand their reach using Social Media Marketing. 
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