The social media sandbox might feel a tad intimidating at first – especially if you are not a 20-something, fresh out of college, tech-/Web 2.0-saavy go-getter. Before your eyes glaze over and that Twitter-twitch sets in, relax! You too can use social media to cross promote your content or event.

While this post will not provide a specific fill-in-the-blank formula for how to promote your event or product, I want you to expand your thoughts about targeted cross promotion.

Let’s take an example event and explore ways to promote it using social media: Your business is participating in a tradeshow to promote its latest product.

Ways to Use Web Sites for Publicity
First, use your own company Web site to highlight your participation in the tradeshow. You can do that in a number of ways…maybe you add a news release, make a calendar note on your home page, discuss it on your product review…you might want to add a downloadable .pdf file to your site that highlights the tradeshow…you certainly want to link to the tradeshow’s Web site and ask them to link back.

Blog to Spread the Word
If you blog, write a post or two about your upcoming participation. Consider adding a special offer to those who read your blog. This could be an incentive to attend the event and redeem the code for a discount or free gift. Establish Google and Twitter alerts to track conversations about the tradeshow and your product. If you see other people blogging about the event or your product, jump in and remind them of your participation and booth number. (You can set up alerts through Twitter when you type a word(s) into Search and then Save This Search, or use a separate program like TweetBeep.)

Are there appropriate industry blogs you can read and submit comments about the tradeshow and your participation? Remember that the idea is not to spam by simply adding your company link. Rather, you want to listen to relevant conversations and add valuable input whenever possible.

Video Makes it Visual
Video is another form of social media. Create a video that highlights your new product and invite customers to personally check it out at the tradeshow. Remember to distribute your video in places like YouTube and TubeMogul, as well as on your Web site.

Jump into Facebook and Twitter
Ask the tradeshow organizers whether they established a Facebook page and Twitter #hashtag for the event. If so, participate in those social media forums. You also want to create your own Tweets and Facebook status updates within your profile discussing your participation and product. Once again, these are both great places to make a special offer to create buzz. Tweet a discount code to be redeemed in person…or a special gift code available to Facebook fans. Remember, the value of cross promotion is to get your message out in as many targeted outlets as possible. In this case, you want to draw people to the tradeshow and to your booth where you can meet them face to face.

Delve even deeper into Facebook and Twitter by finding local businesses or people that are potential customers. What I mean is, maybe the tradeshow is in Chicago and your product is for restaurant kitchens. Search out Facebook fan pages for Chicago-based restaurants, the Chamber of Commerce, Chicago small businesses, etc. Become a fan of those pages and leave status updates about your participation in the upcoming tradeshow and how those fans can benefit from your product. Then, invite them to stop by your booth.

Likewise through Twitter’s advanced search…find appropriate Twitter profiles in Chicago and become a follower.

Participate in Forums
Search for appropriate forums and start commenting. Using the previous example, it might make sense to find forums that discuss Chicago restaurant reviews and join those discussions…even better, find a forum for restaurant owners!

I hope this discussion about using social media to cross promote sparked a few ideas and helps you find a way to integrate this neat medium into your publicity plan. Read the NetStrategies blog or watch Internet Marketing TV to learn more ways to improve your online presence and drive measurable results to your Web site.

Everything is measurable in Internet marketing. That’s the mantra my company NetStrategies stands by! Analytics is the tool by which we measure. In following the data, a smart content writer can determine what a target audience does and does not respond to. The data helps you understand who your visitors are, where they come from, and where they exit during the buy-in process.

A good content writer understands how analytics works even if they are not certified experts on the topic. I’ve studied the educational modules on Google Analytics’ Web site called Conversion University. I recommend anyone working with Web sites at least reads through the material to gain a baseline understanding of what data is available through analytics and how you can use that information. (Actually my boss “encouraged” me to enroll for that very reason, and I’m grateful I did!)

Google Analytics is one example of data tracking and measurement. If used and interpreted properly, it is a fantastic way to track your online progress and make changes based on real data.

Here are two other very simple ways to measure your social media efforts if they are included in your content delivery plan, Facebook Insights and YouTube Insight.

If video is part of your content plan, you can upload to YouTube as a free delivery method. It helps that YouTube is also a household name! Did you know you can access Insight through your account see the analytical data on how your video performs?

Insight, YouTube’s analytics and reporting product, allows you to view detailed statistics about the videos you upload to the site. It charts video views on an interactive time line and map, letting you drill down into different geographic regions and see the viewing activity in those regions over selected time periods. You can also compare the relative popularity of your videos in a given region to all other videos in that region.

To see Insights on your own videos, log on to YouTube and click on the “Insight” button under “Account” > “My Videos” > “Insight.”
YouTube plans to launch new features and additional analytics including viewer demographics, how viewers are engaging with videos (playback length, ratings, comments), and a breakdown of how viewers are discovering videos (e.g. search, email, embeds etc.).
Insight includes a report download section so you can easily share the numbers with your boss or your customer!

For more in depth reporting, Google Analytics integrates with YouTube brand channels, giving partners and advertisers more analytical data by fully enabling Google Analytics reporting. Brand channel owners can track metrics such as how long visitors stay, repeat visits, bounce rates, and page views per visitor.

If a Facebook Fan page or movement is a way you deliver content to your stake holders, use Facebook Insights to dive into the context of those interactions with analytics. Insights illustrates how users are interacting with your page, broken down by Wall posts, likes, and comments. Your Post Quality shows you how engaging your posts are to your fans, and your star rating compares your Post Quality to other pages of similar size. Your Fans Over Time graph allows you to track when users decide to unsubscribe from your posts in their News Feed. It also includes statistics on where your fan base is located and which languages they speak. To export your reports, click “Switch to the Old Insights” in the menu and follow the Export link. Facebook plans to add new metrics in the coming weeks and months.

Your stake holders determine the quality of your content when they engage and follow through. Follow the numbers to better tailor your content to what your stakeholders want.

As you add online video to your Internet marketing mix, finding the right hosting sites or directories is important. YouTube is a good choice, especially if you hope your video goes viral, but there are many more. Remember, YouTube browsers might not look for business videos. Find the sites that are right for your content. Also consider the limits of the Web site: the file size, time duration, etc. Keep in mind many hosting sites do not allow content that specifically advertises a company, person, or product. If the host finds your content inappropropriate, your profile is deleted.

Tubemogul is a popular video distribution site. It allows you to upload your videos and then distribute them to up to 24 sites if you have created an associated account. Below is a short description of the Web sites that are currently supported by Tubemogul. (Remember to go to the individual sites and register so that Tubemogul can distribute your videos.)

You can also automatically submit your Web video to your Twitter and Facebook stream through Tubemogul!

Blip.tv focuses primarily on the video blogging community, with emphasis placed on serialized content and shows.

Break’s photo and video content is geared toward the male community with emphasis on humorous material.

Brightcove is a site geared toward more professional video publishers, companies, and media companies that wish to distribute video, audio, images, and text.

Crackle distributes digital television content which includes select movies and shows owned by Sony.

Dailymotion, based in Paris, France, features a wide array of content, including humor, business, movies, and music.

Ebaumsworld primarily features photos, videos, and games for entertainment.

Graspr includes a large selection of instructional videos.

Grindtv is promoted as a “place for skaters” and its videos are all related to skating, surfing, and riding.

Howcast features an assortment of “how to” videos, some for entertainment purposes.

Imeem promotes music videos and artist events.

MetaCafe is another all-purpose Web site that features original and user-shared video content. It recently launched its Producer rewards program, which gives $5.00 for every 1,000 views of videos which are rated over three stars. The money is not distributed until the producer earns 20,000 views (or $100.00).

Revver features a wide array of user-generated content. This site splits advertising income with the creators of the featured videos.

Sclipo is a social learning network that provides videos for learning, whether it’s teacher-to-student or teacher-to-teacher content.

Sevenload is similar to YouTube and MetaCafe. This site features a broad selection of user-generated media — both photos and videos.

Streetfire is true to its name and the content includes car videos, car crashes, and races.

Stupidvideos includes humorous home videos and clips generated by users.

Tellytopia is currently under construction. The site aims to distribute Internet content through television.

Veoh is an Internet television that hosts major studio content, as well as independent and user-generated productions.

Yahoo!video is Yahoo!’s search engine for videos uploaded by users. It also features a very broad selection of subject matter.

Vids.myspace includes all-purpose videos that are uploaded by users. It features amateur videos, movie content, and music.

YouTube is among the most well-known Web sites on the Internet. It allows for the distribution of all kinds of user-generated media.

Viddler is an all-purpose video hosting site that allows you to customize your video players. This includes a custom logo and a link back to your Web site if it is embedded on another site.

Vimeo is a social network for the filmmaking industry. It is specifically designed to exclude commercial videos, gaming videos, or anything that has not been created by the user.

5min is another educational site that features “how to,” instrucitonal, and “do it yourself” videos.

Others not included under Tubemogul are:

Google Video which is Google’s video search function that draws from other sites.

i2tv.tv allows you to upload your videos for its content to appear on television or Video on Demand.

Webcastr is a worldwide Internet portal for video channels. It aggregates content based on people’s particular interests.

There are MANY video hosting options on the Web. Find what caters to your type of video and make the site work for you. If you use a video broadcast network not listed above, feel free to share it!