Finally Engaging With Social media
For the longest time, I resisted getting involved with Social Media. I don't get why the world would be interested in what I had for breakfast or that my cat coughed up a hairball. Social Media just seems like so much noise added to already busy lives. Having a social media account (or ten) seems to be an almost desperate measure people go to to have the world recognise that that they exist and are of some importance. It plays to our narcissism.
But despite my negative view of social media, I have now opened a few social networking accounts.
Because of privacy concerns, I opened them under different names, using different dates of birth and different details. That way, a consistent profile of who I am, what age I am, where I live etc can't be built.
I always remember this line from a movie, but not the name of the movie: "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you!" :)
Using Facebook
While I mostly despise Facebook, as a marketer I've come to appreciate the very thing I despise about them. They build profiles of all their members. They build profiles of non-members too but can only use that info if someone eventually signs up.
They make a lot of that info available to their advertisers - those of us who buy Facebook ads. I can target someone in Des Moines, Iowa who's a Star Trek fan but only likes The Next Generation series, who's over 25 and under 44 and put a targeted offer in front of them.
You can't do that with Adwords last time I checked. Besides, Adwords ads cost a lot more than Facebook ads.
Using Instagram
Instagram is another of those social things I'd heard about and ignored. It's a photo-sharing app for mobile devices. Again, it seemed like yet another thing to feed people's narcissism.
Besides, it's near impossible to use Instagram from a PC or laptop. And why would I want to share photos of my cat coughing up hairballs anyway?
But then I came across a webinar that showed the possibilities for using Instagram as a marketing channel. I didn't have to post images to it from my phone or tablet. I could use my workday PC to post to Instagram.
What's more, I could search for images to use, change them up by adding my logo or URL and then post them to Instagram.
This wasn't about posting images of me at the beach, me at a party, my cat in the garden or whatever. This was about posting images that would emotionally resonate with people so that they'd take action by clicking on a link.
This was a way to start building an email list (the best thing to do with Instagram) or marketing products to people who look at your image posts.
What is this tool?
Read my in-depth review to find out...
Recent Comments
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Congrats! I've started getting onto more social platforms. If you'd like, you can find my links on my profile page. Add me and I'll add you back ;-) Happy socializing!!!
Thanks Gary Like you I have been hesitant to jump in, but there appears to be a big upside to do so.
Tim
Very informative blog and I will definitely be applying your suggestions to my own social media considerations. I was going to go with Adwords, but it looks like Facebook is a better prospect and a little cheaper! I will have to look into this further!
I stalled for quite a bit in the training because of the social media trainings. I didn't want to. Now I have (haven't hooked up to Instagram but will give your link a try). On we go Gary!