Understanding Online Community and Influencers with @Tamar Weinberg [@InboundNow #8]

In this episode of Inbound Now, Tamar Weinberg, of Techipedia & Mashable, joins us to talk about the ins and outs of social media marketing on the web.

In the show we chat about:

• The importance of understanding your online community
• Why understanding and finding your industries influencers is key to your blogging success
• How social media is not just a one off campaign but a constant in your marketing mix.
• We dive into some of Tamar's Favorite social media resources.

For audio and the complete transcript head click here: Connecting with your community and infleuncers online

How Tamar Got Started With Social Sedia

"Social media" and online engagement really started right when the internet was invented. It was kind of the point.

She knew when she was 12 years old that she wanted to do something in the social media realm. "There is something very interesting about the way that the internet and social media break down geographic boundaries."

Where Should a Business New to Social Media Start?

It really depends on the communities that your service or product targets.

"So, for example, if you’re interested in a number of, like if you’re doing finance, for example, there are a number of niche financial websites out there. For example, like, Tipd.com, which is a social bookmarking site, but there’s also and it seems that, the Inc. 500 are actually finding that the best targets out there of their social media efforts are actually niche forums."

Niche Communities Matter

There are a ton of highly targeted micro communities online that you can interact with super fans.

In other words there is more to social media than Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn.

Fan question: Mark Mathson asks "What social media marketing tool is necessity for every marketer?"

Hootsuite - great way to have a columned layout of social media searchs and will help you manage multiple accounts.

Rapportive for gmail - This extension for gmail pulls in the contacts social media profiles and helps give you a deeper context of what they have been up too. Think mini social CRM.

Without An Understanding of Your Community and Infleuncers You Are Destined to Fail

Tamar wrote a great post about the 7 truths about social media where she states unless you figure out who would be interested in your project and then figure out how to interact with them in a meaningful way, you are destined for failure.

"It is really important not to just go out there and just broadcast" in social media, Tamar states.

"For social media to really be effective, it’s about understanding who the types of people are that would actually be interested in your product and then building relationships around these communities."

Don’t Spam Social Media

Come bearing gifts and helpful advice. Give back to the network long before you make any ask.

"Hi nice to meet you, buy my stuff!" doesn't work and will ultimately get you branded as a spammer.

Seize The Day

Look for negative mentions of competitors and interact with that person, try and solve the issue, and let them know you exist.

This can be a great way to grab some business from people who are unhappy with their current solution.

Public Relations Faux Paus

Don’t send blind pitches to bloggers. Do you homework and make sure your motivations align with the interests of the blogger before reaching out to them.

Mutually beneficial pitches are always more like to get read and written about on their blog.

Online Meets IRL

Meeting your fans, customers, etc. in person and really help solidify the relationship you started with them online.

Don't underestimate the power of holding live meetups and user groups. This is a great way to foster and build brand evangelists.

We do this at HubSpot with our annual HUG (HubSpot User Group Conference)

Social Media Is a Continuous Effort

Social media is not a one off campaign.

Brand awareness is something that must be built over time by being active and engaging within social media.

It’s Not Over After You Hit Publish

After crafting an awesome SEO friendly blog post and hitting the publish button, your job is not done!

Marketing you blog is something that must happen. Building relationships with the right networks with people who would be interested in sharing your content, is key.

Again, find where your target audience is consuming and sharing content and reach out to them!

Blogging Is Not an Overnight Process

Set yourself up with an editorial calendar filled with engaging content (with some long tail keywords weaved into the mix) and stick to that schedule.

Remember, don’t get discouraged, It took Chris Brogan 8 years to get his first 100 subscribers!

Leverage Guest Blogging Opportunities

When first launching a blog, one of the best ways to pull in new readers is by guest blogging for an already established blog in the space.

Writing for the established blog instantly helps build the credibility of your own blog.

Most blogs that except guest bloggers allow them to link back to relevant articles on their own site, thus giving them the ability to grab some of that readership, not to mention the SEO benefit from the inbound links!

Must See Social Media Resources

Some of Tamar's favorite resources to keep up with the changing trends of social media include: Social media explorer, PR squared, Brian Solis ,Chris Brogan, Seth Goden, Brass Tack thinking, Mashable.

Connect with Tamar online: on twitter @Tamar or on her blog Techipedia.

Past Episodes:

• Gauging Online Influence with Jason Keath of Social Fresh
• How to Market Smarter, Faster, and Cheaper with David Siteman Garland
• How to Rock Your Facebook Fan Page with John Haydon
• Stop Marketing and Start Engaging with Scott Stratten (@unmarketing)
• Podcasting for Business & Email Marketing Best Practices w/ Christopher S. Penn
• Becoming a Trust Agent w/ @ChrisBrogan [@InboundNow #6]