1) Blogging
2) Twitter
3) Facebook
As you read on, you’ll find that the three pillars are more effective when used in tandem with each other. No element in and of itself is maximizing its utility without the other two.
This means, not only are the three pillars by themselves effective marketing tools, but when combined, they can deliver an unmatched competitive advantage for any business, product, or service.
Here are the 3 pillars for online marketing success in detail:
#1 – Blogging
Blogging is a critical piece for today’s online marketing strategy because:
a. Google favors freshly updated content – this is something that’s virtually impossible to achieve with a static website.
b. Because Google favors freshly updated content, you can quickly achieve top rankings by utilizing keyword phrases in your titles and throughout your posts. After just a handful of blog postings, your business can already be dominating the top search results of Google.
c. The permission marketing effect – a blog allows visitors to quickly and easily subscribe to your content, creating a permission based marketing element from you (the business), to a growing audience of interested prospects.
Overtime, this impact delivers a growing amount of influence that your business has on the web, and with prospects.
#2 – Twitter
There are lot’s of ways Twitter can be effective for a business, but it’s most effective at broadcasting short messages to a growing audience of prospects and readers.
However, the power Twitter doesn’t stop there. When your followers on Twitter get an update from you, they now have the option (if they like what you said) to retweet your content to all of their followers.
As this process unfolds, the compounding viral marketing effect, or spreading of your content, is almost difficult to calculate – basically, it’s massive spreading of your content which creating a large, growing element of awareness of you, your business, etc…
Twitter also provides a “permission based marketing” platform for businesses. Since users on Twitter voluntarily chose to become a “Follower” of your updates, they are saying “Yes, I’m interested in what you’re saying and I’m willing to hear from you.”
Permission based marketing is critical in today’s environment, and the Internet allows you to do this quickly and easily with tools like Twitter!
#3 – Facebook
Facebook is quickly becoming the most popular place for everyone to be online. I consider Facebook a much different marketing platform than Twitter in this regard – where Twitter allows broadcast messages that are one way directional (from you, out to others), Facebook allows conversation and comments.
Because people can comment on your content in Facebook, this allows you (the business, product, or service) to actual engage your audience; something that has literally never been possible before in such an efficient manner.
Also, Facebook delivers the element of “permission based marketing” with their new Facebook Fan Pages.
Facebook Fan Pages are being used by business and organzizations – both large and small. They are also being built for individual products and services (like Coke).
A Facebook Fan Page allows Facebook members to “Become a Fan” of your page – this is the equivalent of “Followers” on Twitter.
Since “Becoming a Fan” on Facebook is voluntary – nobody tells you or forces you to do it – you, as the page owner, are now sending updates to an audience that is actually wanting to hear from you. This is equivalent to having a prequalified audience of prospects and followers.
The Take Away:
If you’re a business or marketer, I highly recommend you start TODAY by building a blog (they are free you know!), launching a Twitter profile and Facebook Fan Page, and making all three a daily activity for you in your online activities.
The world is moving fast on the Internet, and those that are consistent and persistent, can set themselves apart in a very short period of time – this means you can become the leader in your industry, regardless of whether or not you have a marketing budget!
Sounds like it levels the playing field to me…