What is Social Media Marketing?

Social media marketing is the process of marketing through social media sites like Twitter,Facebook and YouTube. By utilizing the social aspect of the web, social media marketing is able to connect and interact on a much more personalized and dynamic level than through traditional marketing.

A social media marketing strategy can be as simple as having a company blog, a Twitter account, or attaching “Digg This” and “Tweet This” tags to the end of articles. It can also be as complicated as having a full campaign that encompasses blogs, Twitter, social networking and viral videos through YouTube.

Social Media Marketing and Social News

The simplest form of social media marketing is to tag articles and blog entries for easy submission and voting on social news sites like Digg. If you’ve ever come across a Digg vote counter or a Share This widget at the end of an article, you’ve seen this form of social media marketing in action.

This type of marketing can often be automated, so it is simple to implement. It can also be very effective for media companies, and can be a great way to promote a company blog.

Social Media Marketing and Blogs

In many respects, blogs can serve as an extension of traditional media. Much as review copies might be sent to traditional media outlets like newspapers and magazines, they can also be sent to popular blogs on the subject.

Blogs also offer the opportunity to put together ‘virtual tours’. For example, many authors have gravitated towards having virtual book tours, which allows them to reach their fans without the travel expenses. These virtual book tours can include author interviews and Q&A sessions as well as book reviews and book giveaways.