It has almost become something of a cliché to say that the future of advertising in social media. However, there is a bit of truth at the heart of every cliché, and this one is no exception. The statistics tell the same story. Spending on social media advertising is expected to increase nearly tenfold over five years, from $350 million in 2007 to $2.7 billion in 2012. This is a market opportunity if there ever was one.

Here are 3 excellent ways to leverage the increasing power and popularity of social media in order to increase the visibility of your company and attract new customers.

Work the Relationship Side
The ancient Chinese philosopher Sunzi stated in his classic The Art of War that if you know your enemy and you know yourself, then 100 wars will be 100 victories. In a more modern context, this means that if you know your customers, then you will be much more likely to properly understand them, and to understand what they are looking for.
The rise of social media presents an unprecedented opportunity to know your customers, and to know exactly what they are looking for. Take advantage of this opportunity to create an open dialogue with your customers. Provide them with the relevant content that they are looking for, and maintain this dialogue so that it is open 24 hours per day.
With social media marketing, your immediate goal need not be to push products on customers. Instead, you can think about a social media campaign as akin to having an office emails system. It facilitates communication with your customers, and allows them to reach out to you.

By keeping these channels in place and open, you will ultimately see increased traffic levels, and increased business levels.

Social Media Is Not a Stand-Alone Goal
As an ever-changing beast, it is hard to even define exactly what social media is, nonetheless how you can effectively leverage it for success. However, social media is definitely dynamic. This means that your thinking about social media needs to go beyond simply making a Facebook fan page to drive traffic to your website to drive an increase in sales.
Instead, just try to link all aspects of your social media campaign together. So when you write a new blog post, include buttons to make it easier for people to share it via Facebook and twitter. Likewise, create some of your blog posts as videos, and share them on YouTube. By sharing across more channels, you create additional exposure.

Create Great Content (and Know How to Share it)
As it always seems to be, the final takeaway is that great content is king. And as social media is all about sharing, whether you will be successful in your social media campaign depends on whether you create content that is share-worthy, and share-able.

This is all about adding value for your customers. Look at it from their point of view. Don’t just talk about yourself or your business. Make a video or an article that your customers will like, and they will want to share with their friends, and you’ll get all the free promotion you could ever want.

A little over two years ago, a very novel concept was developed. This was the notion that a social networking widget could be integrated into a blog or website. That means ANY blog or website. Originally, the first widgets developed were intended to work with FaceBook. However, the concept proved so popular that is was expanded to include several other social networking sites. Such enhanced popularity shows the success that people are experiencing with these widgets. Employing these widgets into the design of a website or blog for internet marketing purposes can prove to be the right angle needed for success.

For those that are not sure how social networking widgets work, they are basically codes that are added to the site/blog. This allows others to sign on to the site in a manner no different than they would on a social network. They can become friends and followers to the site and create their own profiles with text and pictures. This definitely will liven up a “standard” website or blog immensely.

What is the great benefit to turning a standard website into one that integrates social networking components? Basically, it allows you to keep interest stimulated in your potential clients and customers. For example, someone that is offering personal fitness training services would certainly benefit from social networking taking part on your site. Many people will need motivation to continue with a personal training program. They might also need some of their questions and concerns addressed in order to be invigorated to take part in a fitness session.

Adding a social networking component to the site enhances the ability to directly discuss things with those potential clients. This could be considered the second main benefit of social networking widgets. They enhance the ability to directly communicate with clients/customers. That creates a personal connection with others which, in turn, boosts the success potential of the business.

Of course, the example of a personal training business is exactly that – an example. Really, any business can get great benefit from integrating social networking widgets into the mix. In today’s communication age, having access to social networking components will definitely give your marketing potential an edge over those sticking to old, worn out methods. When your marketing campaign does not embody what is needed to stay modern and effective, they falter. This is why integrated widgets into your blogs and website can prove quite helpful. They integrate a very popular modern concept in and effective manner. That is an excellent combination for success.

This point bears repeating: when your strategies are old and out of date they will fail to deliver on their intended result. Why would you want to build a promotional website and then not do all that would be necessary for effective promotions? Clearly, it would best to set yourself apart from the pack so to speak and make your promotions as cutting edge as possible. Greater success becomes likely when you do this.

Some may wonder if it is tough to add a widget. The answer is no. Simply cutting and pasting code is usually all you need to do. The actual process of signing on to the social networking component is not difficult at all. The designers know these widgets need to be crafted for the average person in order to be successful. As such, this is how the widgets and corresponding social networks have been developed. Those wishing to integrate them need not worry about operational issues. These widgets are perfect for anyone to use.

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The business potential of Facebook went untapped for a short while when the site was young, but it’s certainly making up for that now! Most people don’t seek out a company’s fan page unless they happen to be referred from their website or online store. But if a friend becomes a fan, or it is suggested to you, you may be more likely to become a fan yourself. Working within this system will gain you the most Facebook fans. Friends of friends will join when it is suggested to them.

There are site-savvy ways to recommend your site, too, by using the Suggest to Friends button at the site. This is normally the first step in building a healthy following for your fan page.

Facebook ads are able to target the people that would be most likely to become a fan of your particular site. You can set up your own ads without paying a great deal of money, and pay by PPC (price per click) or pay for one pre-determined number of impressions. Try various styles of ads to decide which ones work best for your company. You don’t need a lot of technical prowess to set up ads, either. The best thing about a fan page ad is that it has a button that allows people to “become a fan” with a quick click.

If you have a mailing list, let everyone know about your Facebook fan page. People who are online every day almost all have a Facebook account, but they will spend their time there socializing and playing games, not looking for a business site. Let them know that you’re on Facebook, too.

Give readers exciting content to keep them coming back. Include things they won’t want to miss, and announce specials or news first on Facebook before you announce it anywhere else.

Another way to attract attention to your Facebook page is to add a link on your blog or your website so people can click to become a fan of your Facebook page. This widget works in emails, too.

To keep your Facebook fan page updated regularly, you can use your wall settings and select import, which will allow you to import feeds from various other sites. Don’t forget to link your Facebook page with your Twitter account, too.

The share button near the bottom of your page can be used to post your own page to your own profile, or you can email it to your friends. And be sure to ask your fans to do the same. 

Ask interesting questions. When someone answers a question, this interaction will show up on their news feed, and their friends will see it. The more interactions you are in, the more potential fans you’ll have.

You can also select a custom design on Facebook. Web designers can set these up for your company, in addition to making landing pages that will encourage your users to become your fans. This type of page needs to have code written for it, so you may need someone to do that for you.

Unless you’re willing to put some work into it, your Facebook fan page won’t get off the ground. The more interacting you do with people, the more fans you will end up with.

The list of members of Facebook is growing every day. A more diversified group of people would be hard to find, yet they meet up with old friends, and make new ones, with amazing regularity. Facebook is the largest social network in the world, and everyone from top executives to teenagers is online there.

The fan pages on Facebook have numbered close to three million, with over 400 million users interacting there. So these pages are attractive as social media tools for marketing, to promote your brand to many people who may become fans.

Invite people to your fan pages in all the ways described above, and watch your network presence expand like wildfire.