Social Media Marketing

Of late, I have been diving head first into the empty concrete pool of social media marketing.

Most of this weekend was spent trying to understand how to best integrate and effectively leverage my 'network' which looks a lot like this:
- 375 LinkedIn Contacts (not including groups)
- 380 Facebook Friends
- 56 Twitter Followers (really not getting the Twitter thing)
- 597 Address Book entries
- 15,600 Salesforce.com contact records

...and now 878 'subscribers' to my iContact newsletter.

This last one is the most interesting because I have decided to use iContact to manage all of this mess. I am sure there are some (many) that will scoff at my naivete about social media marketing but I was previously trying to manage all my contacts through Entourage (the Mac version of Outlook.)

iContact and the category of email marketing in genera) is the only sane way to manage communications with - and sell stuff to - your network.

In plain english, email marketing tools allow you to:
- Create lists (categories) of subscribers (aka: your contacts)
- Assemble communication campaigns (sequences of emails for as specific audience)
- Sign up new subscribers (i.e. route new contacts to a form to fill out their information)
- Track which emails are opened (and how many times) and which ones bounce (e.g. an incorrect address)
- Navigate the confusing world of ISP Whitelists (some internet providers block emails sent directly from Salesforce.com)

I am sure it can do a lot more 'stuff' but I am still in learning mode.

Why did I choose iContact versus another service like Constant Contact? Couldn't really tell you except it was recommended by a friend I trust. Hey look, the power of social media marketing!

Of course it could also be because I like the colors on their home page better...