Horton Group Expands Social Media Marketing Services

Nashville marketing firm Horton Group announces expansion, adds social media marketing strategist Tony Bates to the team. Horton Group is online at http://www.HortonGroup.com.

Nashville, TN (PRWEB) April 08, 2012

Horton Group in Nashville announced that ihas added Social Media Strategist Tony Bates to the staff and is continuing to expand social media marketing services offered to area businesses. At Horton Group Bates joins a department that includes Social Media Manager Kristyn Wilcoxon and content creator Isabel Ross.

Bates founded CIMG, a social media marketing company that focused on creating fundraising campaigns for volunteer fire departments, schools and other groups that required the support of citizens and local government. Bates is a graduate of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

According to Tony Bates, there are three points about social media strategy that a business should never forget. Bates said, "If you remember three main things, executing your social media strategy will start to naturally fall in line."

"There is quite a bit of material thrown against the wall in social media. Sifting through much of this could cause sudden nap syndrome," Bates joked, "It really is a job hazard for someone who creates social media content. We all want to stay informed, but the material can be so run of the mill, and usually so obvious, that often there is not very much to hold interest. We work hard to get users involved, create interesting stories. There is no value in throwing trivia into the stream."

A social media strategy is the master plan behind every social media campaign, the online road map for businesses seeking to build and maintain a social media presence. There are many opinions about what specific actions work best. "There is no master list of 'to do steps' because those steps will vary according to your organization and your needs," Bates said, "These three points are things that apply to everyone regarding the extent they implement social media as a marketing tool."

Here are three social media strategy tips from Bates:

1. Identify your audience. You would be surprised how many times this changes for those who do not give this careful consideration at the start. Also, your audience needs to be reevaluated from time to time, and is not a “one and done” type of task.

2. Define and stay on message. Your message should matter to your audience. If your audience is not interested in your message, then your message is not well thought out or you lost sight of who your audience is in the first place.

3. Know your goals. Why are you using social media and what do you want to get in return for your efforts? For example, do you want to increase sales or grow an email list? Your messages should be working towards meeting your goals.

Using social media as a marketing tool can be very effective and affordable, but it can also be time-consuming. "If you don't have the time to maintain your social media presence in a consistent manner, then it is best to leave it to the professionals who can," Bates advised, "Knowing that your time is money, you should also know that there is no shame in outsourcing such an important responsibility."

Horton Group, http://www.HortonGroup.com, was started in 1996 and offers a wide range of marketing services including social media marketing.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/4/prweb9380794.htm