Do you “Like” my site? If so, tweet it so your friends can follow.

Facebook was not the first social network to pop up the surface of the internet, it was actually a network called Six Degrees that was launched mid-1997, regardless of that facebook changed the name of the game becoming the biggest and most successful social network. It also changed the name of the game in terms of social media marketing as internet marketers now need to get used to the world of social marketing, word of mouth, viral marketing and so on. Let’s have a look at how social media marketing changed the way we work.

2006 was a game changing year as previously mentioned, facebook was open for the public, twitter was launched and users were joining to the party. Back then search engines rules the internet, they still do, but if you really want to get to your users you need to become their friends – the social game is on.

Social media marketing is relatively new, it involves getting your brand or product into the social arena and getting people to spread the word about it and earn new customers. It’s not as easy as it sounds as you probably already know. People are not stupid and they don’t really care about helping you and your business grow, this is why you need to give them a reason to help you. That reason can be:

1. Game – have you heard of Zynga Poker? Farmville? There are so many games and these companies make a fortune selling virtual products on Facebook.
2. Contests – Who doesn’t like a good contest? How about “like” this image so I can win a brand new ipad in the “COMPANY NAME” competition?
3. Promo Codes, Discounts – a great way to gain fans – giving the fans discounts and promotional codes if they join you on your social venture and spread the word to their friends.

It all comes down to the interaction with the members, not ignoring, providing new fresh information, commenting on the good and on the bad feedback as well – all that is important.

Social media marketing also comes down to the segmentation of social media users and the possibilities of advertising on these networks. Advertising on Facebook is possible for 2 years now and as facebook got more and more mature, the advertising opportunities grew bigger, the targeting is better and placing an ad on facebook can bring the same results as doing the same on Google search in terms of ROI.

Another aspect of the social media marketing is the virility way of information spread, this can be both good and bad – if the reputation of your product is good you can use this way to create a gimmick that will make members share it and it can get you good results. On the contrary if your product has a bad name, it only takes one wrong move on your side to create a negative buzz that will spread the same way but create a huge damage.

As social media marketing evolves we see new and creative ways that advertisers use the various social networks as a marketing channel. Don’t get left behind and start your social media marketing venture today – it’s never too late to join.