This past weekend I spoke on a panel at the Colorado Independent Publisher’s Association meeting about using social media networks to target your niche markets.
You might say that social media marketing could replace pitching the traditional media as the best way to get free publicity. At the very least, it offers a viable means of getting exposure and publicity without relying on the whims of print, television, and radio producers and editors.
The web allows us so many opportunities to find and interact with our niche markets. Here are three strategies I shared with the CIPA attendees.
1. Visit discussion groups in their forums and bulletin boards. Just recently there was a discussion about my cookbook in a cancer patient forum. This is great exposure to one of the niches within one of my target markets (people managing chronic diseases like cancer who want to eat healthier). Respond to posts and become known.
2. Post articles on your topic. Submit your articles to article submission sites like ezinearticles or cultivate relationships to web editors of sites relating to your areas of expertise. My articles have hit my target markets on sites from MomsMenu to CooksRecipes to HealthyWealthyNWise with the help of a good internet publicist. I highly recommend Net Connect Publicity for this.
3. Give potential fans ways of finding you beyond text. Post relevant videos on YouTube, share photos on your topic in Flickr, offer podcasts, publish e-books. Use these tools to target narrow audience. I like to offer very targeted e-books, for example. These allow me to target smaller audiences with more focused interests. My 3-minute cooking demonstration series on YouTube has drawn a lot of visitors back to my website.
I’ll be talking more in depth about these strategies and more during my teleseminar with Dan Janal of PRLeads scheduled for Wednesday, June 4th, 2pm EST. I will be sharing 8 Secret Strategies for Getting Online Publicity. Mark your calendars. More details will follow.
