Social Media - Fun, Free and Effective
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| We created a fictional character, Joe Ferret, to help with our local ferret organization. People all over the world have found us and support our efforts. |
Facebook and Twitter are hot right now. They both have proven to be very effective in marketing and each fills a great niche.
I love Facebook as a way to promote a cause. Look what it has done in Iran. Don't expect those kind of results but Facebook is a way to continue building relationships and strengthen existing ones. It should be one more tool in your low-budget marketing arsenal.
Marketing experts seem to be lagging when it comes to Facebook. We advertised for someone to help our efforts and we got a lot of people with SEM (Search Engine Marketing), SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and web design experience. But Facebook is none of those things. You need technical and creative talents to take full use of Facebook. So far no one has come forth with the background we need.
The cost is right - zero, the learning curve a little steeper, but the pay off can make it worthwhile. There's no reason a small business shouldn't have a Facebook page except for the fact that they don't have someone to set it up and maintain it.
Twitter is great because it forces you to be brief. 140 Characters is all you get when you make an announcement, er "tweet". Some people are so long-winded, or they want all the details. But time is valuable and when you want to get the word out quickly - tweet.
Something just came up, new special at your restaurant, empty tables at your restaurant, new line of products just arrived - send a tweet. Again, it's free and it keeps your name out there!