Social Media Marketing - The ZEN method

Zen of Social Media Marketing

 Many people believe that since they already know how to use Facebook for their personal profiles they are perfectly capable of using Social Media in their business. And I guess that is true to a point. There isn’t anything ‘hard’ about using social media. But ‘using’ and ‘successfully using’ social media to grow a business are two very different things.

The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Kabani is a perfect tool to make sure that you're using social media successfully for your business.

When it comes to ‘successfully using’ social media, you need to understand more than just how to post or to like. You have to understand the selling process, how it works traditionally and how social media is different than traditional advertising practices. To cross the social media line with traditional marketing can be more damaging than not marketing at all.

With Friends Like These

photo credit: daniel_iversen via photopin cc

Today's business world is tough and awfully competitive. So when it comes to Facebook we have a perfect opportunity to spy on our rival businesses and to flat out steal their posts. We can use their posts against them, see how they are running their social media campaigns and find out what they are up to! This is prefect! It's just like finding the other team's play book the night before the big game.

There is even a great way to protect yourself from others seeing what you're up to on Facebook. As Buzz Bishop of cyberbuzz points out, if you create a fake page you can follow all your competitors without them seeing that you are following them.

And I guess in some ways I can see the point. Because of Facebook's referral ads, there is a chance that suddenly there will be a post on someone's wall saying that your page Likes your competition's page. Facebook has basically advertised your competition directly to your fans.

And that is just horrible!

Except that it really isn't.