Gregg Hilferding :)

During my preparation for a recent presentation on social media marketing, I spent a lot of time thinking about how the different sites work together, Twitter in particular.

My audience ranged from people with little or no experience marketing online to people who are already actively managing multi-site social media campaigns. When I have to express something that must inform the new as well as the experienced, I often create an info-graphic:

All the arrows that point from each social network to your website represents traffic. Twitter promotes your website but is also able to promote some of the other social networks as well. The key here is that your website must be the focus of your efforts.

You’ll find many “Social Media Gurus” who will tell you that Twitter should be the center of this illustration, but the truth is that all your efforts should be generating qualified leads to your site. Too many social media plans look like this:

Whenever you find yourself focusing on Twitter follower count, your Facebook Page fan count, or how many views your latest YouTube video received, it’s time to look at the two graphics above and ask yourself where your focus is. Most of all, remember that Twitter is just a tool to promote your own site and all your other efforts online.