Social media advertising

As consumers spent more and more time on social media sites, the opportunities for effective advertising become more attractive to companies in search of customers to connect with.   

Social media advertising is the cutting edge of marketing which continues its evolution. 

To run an effective social media advertising campaign a business needs fresh and informative content. This will attract and engage users and enable the business to participate in the social community.

Instead of pushing a product or service, it’s more important to inform and teach, so the audience relates to the business.

Facebook: We all know there are over 500 million active users on Facebook. Each average user has 130 friends and is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events. More than 30 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) are shared each month. Facebook ad costs are pretty reasonable which allows companies of just about any size or budget to test them out. Ads appear on the right side of the page.

YouTube: As the second most popular search engine after Google and with online video advertising expected to hit 5.7 billion by 2014, YouTube presents a tremendous opportunity for exposure and engagement in a social context. Ads appear within videos or alongside them.

YouTube Video Ad Best Practices Include:

• Keep it short - The longer the message, the higher the possibility users will tune out. 60 seconds is a good benchmark.
• Keep it engaging - Entertain, inform and be relevant. Users will view the majority of a video if they are interested and engaged.
• Inspire, don’t just educate - Avoid focusing solely on being educational; two minutes of talking heads doesn’t work well.
• Deliver key messages early - Plan for user tune-out near the end of the video and deliver your message early.

Google Plus, which now has 170-million users, has been redesigned to make it easier to use and more attractive. Google+ isn’t overwhelmed by its many features. It’s easy to navigate and its icons speak for themselves. It has built a system that can seamlessly allow us to customize the level of social interaction we want with different people. You can now create Google+ badges for your site. And advertise for free.

Twitter is a free social networking site. The service allows users to post 140 character messages, called “tweets”, and follow their friends' activities through the web. Users can choose to keep their tweets private and individually approve followers.  Since its initial launch in 2006, Twitter has revolutionized the way news is generated and the way people and businesses connect to clients and comrades around the world.

 Yakamore  is a posting site that is specifically designed to help online business with their Social Media advertising needs and to make sure they can get their business noticed at affordable prices. It just beta launched on Feb 1st, 2012. It starts off with 80,000 members and is a sister site to the well-known and popular Sokule. Yakamore was created, according to its developer, Phil Basten "To help online businesses have a place to post that is Business Friendly". Yakamore posts like Twitter instantly but its post is longer at 180 characters for all members.

Sokule is one of the biggest and best social marketing platform on the Web, with 75,000+ members. Is there anyone online who is not on Sokule yet? If that's you - join now. At no cost. Sokule is described as “like Twitter but monetized. With Sokule you can send short messages called “squeeks” out to your trackers but included are options to increase the length of postings. While Sokule has a free membership, it also has paid subscription options to increase its power as a social marketing platform.

MLMSocial is the social network for network marketers. Whether you're an MLM distributor (or just looking to become one), an MLM company, or a vendor with products or services geared toward the MLM Industry, MLMSocial will improve your bottom line! MLMSocial is the place to network with other MLM business builders and prospects, build your Downline, find the right MLM Company and Sponsor, meet and talk with some of the most successful Network Marketers in the world, get inside information and reviews on MLM opportunities, create your own personal profile and brand, post content and establish yourself as a business leader to attract quality leads, promote your product and business, gain access to affordable premium ad space and keep your MLM social media marketing separate from your personal social networking! MLMSocial also offers an opportunity to earn money through referrals.

Betternetworker.com is a forum that was created by Mike Dillard so that like minded home business owners (mainly network marketers) could meet up and interact. It’s more than just a forum. If you become a paid member, you get access to some exclusive marketing training along with the rights to be able to post articles, videos on this site. As a member, you get access to some exclusive training along with the ability to have your own contact forms on the side of your content pieces. If you just want to use the forums, then a free membership is fine.  

A social network’s strength is in its ability to create clubs and groups around areas of interests, not to deliver revenues from traditional broadcast-like advertising. Groups generate interest.

Social networks make viral marketing and word-of-mouth marketing much easier than before. The best use out of social networks is not to make money ‘directly’ off them, but to harness their marketing potential and to use them to market your own business.