Hip-Hippity-Hop: Social Media-Blogs-Websites
The AP Article "Is Blogging A Slog?" at a too-quick glance seems to practically play bugle-boy taps for blogs.
Still, as she says in her blog here... not so fast.
More than anything it's a good reminder to think strategically. Questions to ask....
- Who are you trying to reach?
Blogs are down with teens and slightly older, but up with "more mature audiences"
For adults 30 and up, blogs are growing.
Facebook is growing with all age groups, as is video.
Twitter is widely used but not necessarily widely relied upon
- What medium best matches your purpose? (blogs? social media -- Twitter? Facebook? or?)
Can you get the action you want in less than 140 characters, and is your target connecting with you Twitter?
Can you get your message across in a snappy headline, ideally with a short call to action and ideally a compelling photo or video?
Do you need more words to close the deal than Facebook allows?
Are you trying to get an order not just an "ahhh!" or "aha" or "ha!ha!" or RSVP?
To process orders, or for a when more details are needed to realistically expect action, Facebook won't cut it when it comes to closing the loop.
- Is your reach broad, or sexy/useful appealing enough to go viral?
Of course, this is a bigger issue than the medium, it's about reach, frequency to the right prospects and the effectiveness of your offer.
Like most good media strategies, the idea is to
combine mediums -- Facebook, Twitter and blogs / websites. If your goal is to move a prospective new client to order on line, or pick up the phone to ask for an estimate or schedule an appointment, you're usually going to need a lot more than one hit with 140 characters, or even 500.
Use
Twitter and
Facebook as your
tease... to your blog and website.
Heck, even
Blondie's Dagwood expected his boss Dithers to add
Twitter to his e-mail, text, voicemail, letter and face-to-face firing.
And if you
need some help on getting that tease, that hip-hippity-hop from to entice Facebook and/or Twitter users to jump from there to your blog or website, give me a holler or drop me a line. And
when they do land on your blog or website, if you need help making sure that makes it a logical hop, and moves them to more, happy to help with that too.
Happy Hopping!
