Using Web 2.0 In Your Marketing and Promotion
It’s easy to get caught up in all the excitement that Web 2.0 can bring. There are so many different opportunities that you’re likely revved up to take part in. Before you get started, it’s important to learn about all the different guidelines you need to follow.
First of all, you always need to keep it in the front of your mind that content is king. You definitely should not take part in some of the junk content that is going on out there on the web. Even though Web 2.0 makes it easy to get your content in front of many eyes very quickly, it’s very important that the content you provide is of high quality.
This will increase your credibility and also improve your sales. Yes, it will take you a bit longer to write and release content, but it’s all worth it in the long run.
You also need to make sure that you never sound too pitchy. Your top priorities should be to help, inform, and teach. Rest assured that sales will soon follow.
Don’t just dive in blind to the world of Web 2.0 either. Just like you’ve formulated a business plan for your other online endeavors, you need one to take advantage of Web 2.0 properties as well.
It can be hard to get started even with those things in mind. The best way to start is to find where your target audiences are. After you do that you can join them in some of those places as an active participant.
After you have an “in” by establishing yourself as an expert you have a much better chance of making your content go viral. Encourage your visitors to share your content by making it easy for them to do so. This means putting social bookmarking plugins or buttons near your content.
If you have a blog you also need to keep your ear to the ground by paying a lot of attention to people’s comments. Respond to what people have to say and show them that you are willing to have an active dialogue with them. This will keep them coming back for more. The more often you make yourself available, the better it is for business.
Don’t forget, the written word is not the only way to use Web 2.0. You can definitely combine that with audio and video elements as well. Mix the kind of content you provide to cater to different learning styles and attention spans. Also, update often to keep people coming back for more.
There is one thing you need to keep in the back of your mind as you take advantage of these wonderful opportunities. Don’t be a spammer! You might be thinking that there is no way you’d ever sink that low, but it’s way too easy to get carried away bookmarking and cranking out content for Web 2.0. If you keep your visitors and their happiness in mind this isn’t something you should have to worry about.
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Excellent advice, David. “Make yourself available,” listen, hear and respond, and don’t spam your visitors. The “top priorities should be to help, inform, and teach,” and “sales will soon follow.” I’ll ReTweet this now (it’s a good and important read).