The following article on how to promote products using social media is presented by Quirky.com. On Quirky.com products are developed socially. Anyone with a good creative mind can join in the process – and share in the profits. Plus, members can promote products using their social sales links and earn a commission on all products brought in.
How to Promote Your Products With Social Media
You’ve been working hard on something — an idea, a product, a business. You’re finally ready to share it with the world. You sit in front of your desk and breathe a sigh of relief as you prepare to hit “Return.” A world of enthused consumers and participants lie in wait, and you have no doubt that once they catch wind of whatever you have going on, it will go viral. You hit the button, and sit back to watch the Internet do its thing.
You’re not done yet.
First question you should ask yourself: can anybody hear me? If you have under 100 Twitter followers, or have a static website, sorry, you’re out there all alone. Don’t forget what we’re dealing with here; the Internet is a web (a world wide web, if you will) — don’t be that guy who sits in the corner talking to himself. You have to be a part of this network by pushing your way into the group and making yourself heard.
I’m sure you have much to say about your brainchild, and there’s no need to stress about the limitations of the networks you’ll be promoting on. Open up a fresh document, and let it all out. Everything you have to say about what it is you’re sharing, how you came up with it, how it should be used. Then, edit it down so that it’s interesting and concise — not 140 characters concise (not yet, at least…), but brief enough to cater to the low attention spans of the maniacal nerds clicking through dozens of pages in a minute. No marketing speak allowed. Post this piece on your blog or website, and make a link using a ULR shortener such as bit.ly.
Take a look at this link, in all of its 20-character glory. This is all you’ll be using to promote your product. This link is your power, this link is your friend. Now it’s time to start pushing your product. Even if Twitter isn’t your style, or you disapprove of Facebook’s privacy policy, the reality is that these are the largest “push platforms” out there, and you are at their mercy.
On Twitter, your mission is simple: get people to click the link. In 140 characters or less, you have to say something that will stick, because within just a moment, it’s going to be lost in the stream of news blips, celebrity gossip, and reports on what friends ate for lunch. Remember “the hook?” On Twitter, all you get is the hook. Make your tweet memorable, sexy, but understandable. Don’t try to get all the information across — a reader will get that information if your tweet is interesting enough to actually get them to click. The other goal is to be re-tweeted (RT’ed) as many times as possible. So put yourself in the shoes of your friends on the other side of your monitor, and ask yourself if what you’re sharing is interesting enough that a friend would not only read it, but want it associated with their own personal brand?
Beyond this, remember that Twitter is a conversation platform. Search out users who may be interested in what you’re promoting, and tweet at them to let them know. Also, always answer any questions or comments users direct at you. Being a receptive and friendly Internet persona will only make your product look more attractive, and create a story around it.
On Facebook, post your link and a short blurb, and include a photo (because you can). Your information will have a bit of a longer shelf-life than on Twitter, so take your time — perhaps even copy/paste a segment from your link.
If your name is Ashton Kutcher or Seth Godin, the entire Internet universe will hear you if you so much as touch your keyboard. But, you’re not, and you’re going to need some help. So, start sucking up and begin to do outreach. Target the popular kids, and email them to see if they’d be interested in reading about or, better yet, letting others know about your product. When emailing, remember to sound like a human being. Be relentless, and view it as a success if one blogger out of the every 25 you contact ends up blogging, tweeting, or posting about your product.
There are dozens of social avenues to explore where you can reach out to well-connected users.
Not all of them will yield results, and neither will joining all of them. Other high-quality communities to check out are LinkedIn, Tumblr, Wordpress, Posterous. It’s also a good idea to set up Google Analytics for your blog, to check up on your how your doing, and alter behavior if activity is static.
Even the most brilliant of ideas need to be backed up by execution. When you can’t bear to read the first sentence of your post one more time, or if you memorize the random sequence of characters that is your link, you’re on the right track.
You have all the tools you need for the social web to catch on to what you’re up to. People who use the Internet well want to find out about smart, innovative products and people. They strive to be that person who discovers something amazing, and then spreads it around. These people are on your side, and will be there waiting if you take the right steps for it to reach them.
