Social Media
What if? The Australian Election Online
The federal election has come and gone and yet the public is none the wiser as to its leader as all remains too close to call. At a time when every vote counts so dramatically, one cannot but wonder about what could have been.
With about one and a half million young voters under the age of 25 eligible to vote this year, Labor should have been able to attract this group if they had adopted a stronger online election mobilisation like Barak Obama in the last U.S. election, or even Kevin Rudd’s successful 2007 campaign. Australia was a world leader in this area of online election mobilisation, so what happened in 2010?
While the average Australian voter is probably not directly affected by this turn of events its implications are more significant and do impact all.
The 2007 Election
Kevin 07’s digital campaign highlighted a key difference between himself and John Howard (ie contemporary vs old), however, its effectiveness was much greater than that. The Labor party and Rudd in particular were able to communicate directly and effectively with the electorate. Messages got through and were understood.
Also, many young Australians, a lot of them first time voters, were galvanized into action and helped to sell the message for the Labor party. Of course, this didn’t happen overnight but it was planned for and when they were needed, these supporters went to work.
Social Media Link Building Strategies
Building links using social media marketing is a little different to the link building methods used over the last few years. Rather than focusing on the direct link you get from the social media site your focus should be on getting as many people as possible to link to your site, naturally, from their blog or website.
Here are 7 steps for using social media to build links to your site:
1. Write The Best Very Articles You Can – the key to building links using social media is to write quality articles that provide extreme value to your readers. If you feel that you are giving away too much quality information then you are on the right track. The more you give your readers the more natural links you will receive in return. Keep in mind that the article has to be so good that it compels people to take the time to link to it from their own blog or website.
2. Create a Facebook Page – rather than sharing your content to your friends and family, create a company Facebook page and share your articles through there. Make sure to promote your Facebook page on your website to get as many fans as possible. Unlike email, where you are battling with spam filters and open rates, sharing content on your Facebook page will appear directly in your fans’ news feed right away.
Twitter… Does It Work For Small Business?
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve probably heard or read about a new website called Twitter.
Although Twitter is a relatively new service, it has been receiving some great press and is starting to be used by many small businesses and large companies around the world – including some major media companies, marketing companies and computer companies…
In fact, ABC has its own Twitter feed, which they reference at the end of some of their shows.
So a few months ago I decided to see for myself what this Twitter thing was all about…
Tips For Using Social Networking Sites To Market Your Website
The possibilities that sites such as Squidoo, Facebook and MySpace offer are huge for savvy online marketers. They allow you to introduce your business to a whole new group of people, provided you use them correctly.
It all starts with your profile. This should tell the world about you and your business, and provide an essential link to your website. The beauty of social networking sites is that they allow you to introduce yourself to the world, rather than just your business, so make the most of your profile and add valuable content which gives real value to any passing visitors. If you can attract people with interests similar to those of you and your business, the traffic to your website is likely to increase as a result.
How Businesses Can Use Podcasting To Drive More Sales
Podcasting is the distribution of an audio file via the internet, often using RSS feeds to make it available for a wide audience to pick up and listen to.
The best known sites for downloading podcasts are iTunes and the fairly new podcasts.yahoo.com, and making your content available here exposes you to a potentially huge audience. Visibility is the key if you are to reach the market who will be interested in what you have to say.
Don’t overlook lesser known podcast directories either. You will be asked to list your podcast in a specific category, so make sure you pick the most appropriate one in order to reach your target market.
The Power of Online Video
As we near the end of 2006, one of the biggest changes in the online space is the prevalence of online video.
It was only a few years ago that just the thought of streaming videos on the Internet seemed a distant reality.
Fast forward to December 2006 and online video is in full swing… Google bought YouTube for US$1.6 billion, and companies like Metacafe pay publishers based on the number of people who watch their video.
