Surprise Social Sites to Add to Your Social Media Strategy

Most any savvy web 2.0 marketer will add power sites like Digg, Reddit, or De.licio.us to his or her social media strategy. But here are some sites that most haven't thought of, that can also bring social media traffic.

Ebaum's World. (www.ebaumsworld.com) This popular humor site recently added a link submit category. A front page listing can send four and even five figures' worth of traffic to your site.

I Am Bored. (www.i-am-bored.com) A site for browsers looking for something to do. Often overlooked by marketers, this has the potential to sound thousands of visitors to your website.

Yahoo Buzz. (buzz.yahoo.com) Everyone's heard of Yahoo, but not everyone is familiar with Yahoo Buzz. A marketing campaign that aggressively targets Yahoo Buzz should go hand-in-hand with good host-company communication--Yahoo Buzz can send enough traffic to lock-up an average hosting account!

Key Components of Web 2.0 Marketing

Web 2.0 marketing is all about utilizing conversation and networking aspects of today's world wide web. Here are three key elements to pay attention to.

Social media profiles. This is where you start building the trust that is needed to hold any good conversation. Trusted social media profiles tend to include relevant information about the user. This includes information other than just niche interests--make sure your profiles say something about you!

Blogs and blog comments. Blogs were the original medium for taking part in the conversation that has become web 2.0, and they definitely still part of that conversation. If you don't have a blog, you might want to consider getting one. In any case, you should definitely comment on others' blogs, and not just to get traffic!

Value and/or interest. This is a key component. Provide something of value and/or interest to your niche, and you web 2.0 marketing efforts will be a breeze.

Social Media Optimization

If you use social media sites in your marketing campaign, then social media optimization should be a key tactic in your overall strategy. Here are three points to keep in mind.

Make your pages interesting and catchy. Don't just put information out there--put a new spin on it! You don't need to come up with anything earth-shattering. A slightly different angle, or injection of your own personality, is usually enough.

Post something funny every now and then. Nothing gets traffic like humor. You don't have to be a comedian for this--post a picture and/or short quip from a funny story can often do it. Newsoftheweird.com can be a good source for this.

Include social media buttons. If you use WordPress, try the “sociable” plugin. If not, every social site includes HTML code for their media buttons. They are generally only too happy to assist you in your social media optimization efforts!

Getting the Most Out of Social Media Sites: 3 Tips

Social media sites can be a boon for any online marketing campaign, when used properly. Here are three tips on getting the most out of them.

Have a good profile. Take the time to fill out every field in a social media profile, and you'll gain the trust and interest of other users. Since we're talking about social media here, other users are what it's all about! Also keep in mind that people will vote on your links more often, if they like you.

Comment on other people's stories. This is a good way to introduce yourself to other users (and potential gain more votes and backlinks).

Link to more than just your own pages. Social media isn't about being self-serving--it's about sharing good and interesting content with others. If you only bookmark your own sites, your links aren't likely to get taken as seriously!

Branding Marketing with Social Sites: 3 Tips

Here are a few tips to help your branding marketing efforts with social sites and other web 2.0 marketing strategies.

1. Pick one major branding message. One common reason why brands fail to stick is that they try to be all-encompassing. Your brand doesn't need to be as well-rounded as a person. In fact, even if you're branding yourself, you need to concentrate on one primary message about yourself. Focus your brand, and people will remember it.

2. Find out which social media sites best suit your brand. This means visiting the media and social bookmarking sites you're considering. Figure out three or four that might be best for you (it's okay if you end up being wrong--you can always jump ship to another) and

3. Become a user of the social media accounts you want to brand with! This will keep you up-to-date on how these sites work, as well as how their audiences respond. Plus, you might even have some fun with it!

Leveraging Social Media Websites--The Basic Concept

Social bookmarking sites can bring a lot of traffic to your own pages if you know how to work them.

If you want to get value from these sites, then you've got to be like regular users and give value, first. The old maxim that “you only get out of something what you put into it” applies to making money online, especially when it comes to Web 2.0 and social media websites.

There are a variety of ways to do this. You'll want to connect with new people. continue that connection (i.e. “start a conversation”), and add value with the links you submit, before you're ready to get quality traffic from your social bookmarking accounts.

In short, you have to be a quality, value-adding user to the website. This must be your foremost concern if you want good social media traffic. In my next three posts, I'll give you tips on how to do this.

Social Media Traffic Through Social Media Optimization

Social media optimization (SMO) is a collection of strategies for generating attention through social media, social networking sites and and other Web 2.0 properties. Some ways SMO can be employed include using RSS feeds, adding a "Digg This" button to your sites or blogs, blogging and incorporating third party sites with applications like Flickr, YouTube and others. Social media optimization would be classified as a form of search engine marketing.

Social media optimization is also akin to viral marketing in that word of mouth is created not through friends or family but through the use of networking in the various social bookmarking, networking, and video sharing websites. Blogs achieve a similar affect by sharing content through the use of RSS and special blog search engines such as Technorati and others.

Like any thing that comes along and is useful for social media traffic, SMO is prone to spamming. The good news is that where users are active participants, spammers are very likely to be found out quite quickly and the networks take actions against them to lessen the occurrences. Some social media sites, such as Digg, Mixx and others empower users to bury content that is considered poor quality or spam.