Step-by-step: Search and Social Media Marketing for International Business

Search and Social Media Marketing for International Business: How can you put your best foot forward?

Hi, my name is Rebecca Lee and this is a quick overview of my experience engaging with some of the search and social media marketing (SSMM) platforms currently popular on the personal and professional market… and some thoughts and social media tips for anyone taking the Search and Social Media Marketing for International Business pilot MOOC course offered by Salford Business School.

Rebecca Lee Marketing

Twitter – Tweet Tweet, a little birdie told me…

I can’t sing Twitter’s praises highly enough; it’s my favourite social media platform to date. It’s a fantastic aid for establishing new contacts anywhere in the world and a great tool for companies to engage with their customers instantly, strengthening customer trust and loyalty…. Plus, the simple privacy settings mean that it’s easy to have a personal account which can be kept hidden from prying eyes!

LinkedIn – it’s not what you know… it’s WHO you know!

LinkedIn is also an important social platform – for individuals establishing their digital identity in particular; research during my Search and Social Media module suggested that professional contacts are as important as knowledge in the business world. Therefore LinkedIn can be an invaluable networking tool … and might even get you a job!

Facebook – Friend Request: Your Boss, 0 Mutual Friends

I have strong views regarding work-life balance, and it is for this reason that I refuse to create a professional Facebook account. I appreciate that it is a fantastic way for businesses to engage with their customers and can be an invaluable marketing tool for SME’s, but in terms of enhancing my digital presence online, I believe that my other social profiles suffice. Therefore I keep my personal Facebook account private and do not engage with professional contacts.

With the benefit of hindsight if there was one crucial piece of advice I could offer to learners aiming to enhance their digital profile, it would be to consider the longevity of SEO markers when creating profiles, i.e. personalised URL’s. For example, I made my LinkedIn profile a considerable period in advance of learning about search and social media marketing. I did not understand the importance of selecting permanent features such as my URL in terms of search engine page rankings, which consequently means that my LinkedIn profile is optimised with different search terms to the rest of my digital identity!

Oops…

Finally, I also made myself a BrandYourself profile which although does not function directly as a social networking tool, continuously helps me to improve my online presence. It hosts links to three of my other digital profiles which makes it an excellent tool for monitoring my optimisation progression!

Hope you all have fun enhancing your shiny new digital profiles! Get in touch to let me know how you get on with your Search and Social Media Marketing for International Business course!!!

Rebecca

Tweet Tweet … a little birdie told me you can get in touch with me here!

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