TrainerTainment has gone social. Have you?

Hello! I’m Brooke, and this week I’ll be writing the newsletter. I’m Beth’s new Marketing Director, and let first say this: BETH IS AMAZING and I’m very excited to be working with her! I’m currently helping Beth with a MAJOR hot topic: social-media optimization (SMO). It was Beth’s clever decision to share these tips and tricks of the trade with all of you.

Social media, when used properly, compliments your company’s overall goal. It brings repeat traffic to your sites, creates a venue for a loyal and captive audience, and can expand your company’s sphere of influence.

However, if you want to use social media for your business, then you have to treat it with a business mind. With social media, we need to think conversation, not campaign. Social media is not the place for you to talk; it’s a place for you to listen! Ask questions and respond. Provoke your fans to start engaging in dialogue. Earn a reputation for being an interesting/fun/thought-provoking site.

Additionally, it’s important to put the right person in charge of your site (and the youngest isn’t always the best). This person needs a working knowledge of the company’s mission. They need to have mastery of language, communication and marketing (a degree in Communications or Marketing is even better). Your social-media moderator should also be technology savvy. Most of all, this person should have a strong work ethic – the web NEVER sleeps. Social media is 24/7. It’s forever.

As Beth mentioned in a previous blog, our brands are no longer shaped and molded by our companies. With social media, consumers get to decide who we are, how well we’re doing, and how quickly to tell others about us (good or bad).

There are many more things to say (and learn) about social-media campaigns (SMC). Beth and I are working diligently to bring you more information. Remember, social media isn’t really “free.” It takes time, monitoring, advertising, content management and audience research to pull off a truly successful SMC.