Social Media

Social media was never intended for business use; as the name clearly suggests the intention was to allow people to interact on a social level. The main social media sites, Facebook and Twitter, are increasingly used by businesses for promotion and customer outreach. YouTube and Google+ have been hijacked too as platforms for self-promotion and advertising. Some brands and businesses have been quicker than others to cotton to the idea of social media as business development. Whilst is has not always been clear how this area of marketing translates into revenue it is clear that getting it right is good for your business. Increasingly it seems that everyone is doing it and no one can afford to be left behind the times – businesses are now investing heavily in social platforms that may previously have been firewalled or banned from usage in work time. The landscape of business has definitely moved to the playing field. Not all companies get it right and there is an unspoken code that aggressive sales techniques in community forums will not go down well. The idea is not to advertise but to provide great content and promote conversations within your customer base.

Likes

There are many competitions out there that require you to ‘like’ a product or service on Facebook for you to have a chance of winning. People and businesses rate themselves with the amount of positive feedback, likes or good reviews they receive we all want them. Social metrics such as ‘likes’ and ‘tweets’ have a positive effect on Search Engine rankings for brands and businesses as Google believes if lots of people ‘like’ something and are engaged with it, then it deserves a better position in the search results than a business or brand which doesn’t.

If you are a small to medium business struggling to get your name out there, then a Facebook page with interesting and engaging content could be a really smart way to promote your business and broaden your outreach. Social media is often a long term play however and it can be difficult to grow your fan base quickly. One solution to this problem, is to purchase Facebook likes and twitter followers . Whilst it seems hard to imagine that such unscrupulous tactics can be used – this practice is certainly adopted by small brands and businesses. It’s a fairly new concept but there are a few services already in existence selling these social products. Search for ‘Buy Facebook Likes’ you can specify the origin of your likes, and the amount you want over a period of time. Be warned, this tactic is a short cut and there’s only ever any true value in a social outreach base that is genuinely engaged with your brand. These ‘empty’ followers may make you look good, but they won’t earn you any money.

Get Rich Quick

We all would love to get rich quick, but it if looks too good to be true, then it probably is. Hard work and determination is what gets results. The internet is rife with scams and con artists selling you manuals or e-magazines telling you how to make thousands of pounds out of your PC in a matter of weeks. This kind of marketing will target housebound people; stay at home mums, retirees and students. Once you have sent your money off, received your poorly constructed manual, you will realize you have been scammed. Even with a money back refund guarantee, the scammers know that most people won’t bother and will just want to put the whole thing behind them. It’s a get rich quick scheme that works one way.

Spam

Not the tinned meat of the 70s but a rather annoying modern day plight receiving email you haven’t requested. It’s the junk mail of the internet world. Some spam is illegal due to the sheer volume of spam sent and received on a daily basis it would be impossible to prosecute the illegal ones. It’s worth the risk for the spammers. As the World Wide Web is global, different laws apply to different countries within the internet, so for now it’s a losing battle. Spam is spreading to social media sites too; unknown users with nil followers and followings are posting on your sites and telling you how they can help you get rich quick. Like in the real world, you know who your friends are, ignore these door to door salesmen.

Amy Catlow is the Senior SEO Manager for http://www.expertmarket.co.uk , a B2B lead generation website specializing in business products and services.