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Social media is one of the fastest growing marketing areas on the Internet today. It allows marketers and business owners to advertise and market in ways that were unheard of 5-10 years ago. Every major corporation (and many small businesses and start-ups) out there is currently using social media. The problem inherent with social media is the fact that a proper social media campaign can be extremely time-consuming, very costly and may require a large team of people. Let’s face it -- most of us already know that there is an insane amount of sites, software, services and methods out there. A social media campaign can be exhausting. Enter Shoutlet, a tool that makes managing all your social marketing campaigns a snap.

Social Media Overview

There are several types of social media currently. They include RSS feeds, podcasts, widgets, viral videos, social bookmarking and SMS messages. The problem is this: until now there has not been a tool to manage all of these things from one place. For those readers who are new to social media, these are all various ways of syndication and making your content available in areas and ways beyond just your Web site and some good search engine optimization. Social media is also a great way to catch up with the rest of the crowd in terms of marketing.

Social Media and Shoutlet

Shoutlet and Social Media
Before now you had to have fragmented or disparate tools to manage and distribute all these types of social media. With Shoutlet, you can do all of that from one place. And even better than that, you can track your campaign in real time. With affiliations, contract and relationships with RSS directory companies such as Pheedo, podcast companies like Odeo, and other social media organizations like TubeMogul, YouTube, and MySpace; Shoutlet will help get your media to the most-trafficked spots on the net.
Shoutlet and Social Media Distribution
Sara Lee has taken the power of Shoutlet straight to its consumers. They have created a podcast widget with a text feed providing descriptions of each item (in this case, they are all cooking- and food-related). When you click on the item, a video pops up in the widget with a demo and recipe. They did it all using one Web-based service and all of this is viral, so the more traffic you get from your own distribution the more that item will (theoretically) be passed on to others by viewers and readers.

Just a Few Shoutlet Features

* RSS Feeds: Complete with a widget builder to make your feed viral * Podcasts: RSS feeds with audio and video (plus widgets that access the video directly through the widget without redirecting) * Distribution: Distribute across many directories and services * E-mail Marketing: Import existing contacts, distribute e-mail marketing with ease * Opt-in Forms: Use Shoutlet opt-in forms to help collect data and build your contact list * Widget Building: Quickly and easily build custom, viral widgets for your campaign * Trackability: Every aspect of your campaign built or distributed through Shoutlet is trackable * More features discussed in the video: Getting started with Shoutlet is easy. Simply visit www.shoutlet.com and click on the "Start Now" button.

Shoutlet and Money Matters

Most people’s first question is how much does Shoutlet cost, because cost is almost always a factor for SMBs. Now, starting at around US$ 100.00 per month for the service, the cost seems outrageously steep. Until you compare it to the man-hours spent working with your fragmented tools and the cost you paid for those tools. And you add in the fact that they offer a 14-day trial (although, in a truncated version).

Easy to Use?

Now the next question that comes to mind is: if Shoutlet can do all of this, how easy is it to use? This is a question that many may have almost immediately. Frequently, with services like this that cover a large range of things, they can be a headache to use. Not Shoutlet! With your initial one year membership, Shoutlet provides you with a training course on how to use every aspect of Shoutlet.

Six Ways to Use Shoutlet to Drive Up Your Numbers

How do you use social media and Shoutlet to generate traffic or create conversions? 1. Advertise a Product Launch Across Multiple Media Formats When you are ready to launch a new product, create (or have one created) a short Flash video commercial, embed the video in a podcast, add links in your RSS feed to the video and discuss the launch along with static imagery, send SMS messages to current contacts who have agreed to receive them, build a viral video widget and submit it to all your JV partners, and e-mail the video to your e-mail list. 2. Handle Public Relations With Co-Reg and JV Partners With Shoutlet you can break e-mail lists into groups. This allows you to communicate and handle relations with partners via Shoutlet's e-mail features, SMS messaging and all the social media avenues. You can even build a widget for your partners to use that will provide them with updates from a program management service like Project Path. This all allows for quicker communication without everyone (who may be scattered in different time zones worldwide) having to be online together in a chat or virtual meeting. This ultimately means quicker campaign responses, changes and implementations. 3. Incorporate the Opt-In Forms for Use With Co-Reg Campaign If you and your JV partners have decided that you want to start a co-registration program, use Shoutlet to create and implement your opt-in forms for all JV partners involved. This will make you highly desirable as a JV partner because you will have the ability to facilitate and manage much of the campaign for your partners without added work. Place creative, viral video commercials on sites like YouTube. Commercials have worked this long on TV, why not on the Internet too? 4. Use SMS Messaging Keep your clients, customers and contacts up to date with exclusive offers via SMS messages. 5. Create a Resource Site With One Of Your JV’s This will enable you to cross distribute all media from both partners and make you more desirable as a JV partner. 6. Distribute Product Demo Videos People love to see how things work or how things are made. Create a viral video showing the processes involved with your product. As stated, social media is one of the fastest growing forms of marketing there is. Therefore, if you haven’t yet considered a social media campaign, you should. Not only should you be considering a campaign, but you should also be looking for a way to implement that campaign with as little effort as possible. You can even offer the integration of JV and collaborative ventures in your social campaign. That will get you caught up with the competition. With Shoutlet you can surpass your competitor, driving your conversions and revenue through the roof! So check out Shoutlet and start harnessing the power of social media for yourself.

More Social Media Options

Sproutbuilder and Sproutmixer -- create viral widgets and track them with Sprout Inc. Tarpipe -- automate your publishing, share content easily and keep it all organized in one neat place Ping.fm -- automatic posting to a variety of social accounts.