Top Do’s and Don’ts of Social Media Marketing
December 25, 2009 by Adam
Filed under Business, Entrepreneurship, Internet, Websites
Social media marketing does not have to be rocket science. Many people make it more complicated than it is and tend to shy away from it. They know that they should engage, but still fundamentally do not understand the intricacies and as such, they are missing out on a whole new way of communicating with their clients and would-be prospects. Once you have learned that it takes a different mindset and its not about the hard sell, you just need to be dedicated, believable, valuable and repetitive. And no, repetitive does not mean spamming the same message to the world, it means you must take time out of your schedule on a regular basis to interact.
1. Don’t believe that there is a magic formula.
Sorry to shoot down your dreams in the first sentence, but there really is no magic wand here, either. All these different platforms and sites may offer free membership, free enrollment and a free platform, but this approach takes work. Lots of it. Be assured, however, that if you approach this the right way and make it a long-term project, you will enhance your reputation significantly and will invariably benefit from your efforts. Avoid any schemes that promise instant success.
2. Do focus.
You can certainly get out of your depth very quickly if you try and expand your reach too broadly or employ a scattershot approach. Your aim is to make contacts, good ones and you must be able to sort the wheat from the chaff. Keep a note of everyone you come across in your industry who appears to know what they’re talking about, has a good following or has a special aura. Keep track of these contacts and make sure that you keep in touch. You should aim to read their work regularly, the blog posts, Facebook postings or tweets. Make sure that you respond and get to know them as they get to know you. Yes, it will take some work.
3. Do reach out.
You are rightly proud of your blog, its content and your contribution to the niche. Reach out to others who also contribute good material, by linking to their posts. Over time, people will link back to yours and you will be creating a network of great, interconnected content.
4. Do integrate.
Part of the process of building up your brand is to use a variety of relevant social media platforms and to ensure that they are all appropriately linked. Your Twitter feed should show on Facebook, your Facebook postings on your blog page, your YouTube account videos should be bookmarked and your blog point to your hub website. You are building your social media presence and creating a certain stance for your organization. Make sure that your branding is consistent and that you update your various accounts regularly.
5. Do give value.
In order for any of this to work, you have to be a contributor. You have to be able to listen and learn, find out what all the buzz is about, pick up on some of the problems and write posts and messages that contribute to the issue. Try and resolve problems. If there is a major conversation thread about a subject of interest, make sure you contribute and keep on top of the thread until it naturally dies away. You are not selling anything and you should not suggest that you could, even if you think you have a solution to whatever problem is on the table. You’re building up your presence and making people aware of your existence and, by extension, your brand.
6. Don’t sell.
This follows on from the last point. If you try and directly sell your products or services within any social media network, you will get nowhere. It simply is not done. That isn’t to say that you won’t see thousands of people or businesses trying to do just that, but they are essentially uneducated in the finer points of social media interaction. Remember to educate, inform, entertain and enlighten and watch what happens over time.
7. Do build your brand.
Calculate which social media networks could be of most interest to you from a holistic perspective. Don’t try and focus on every blogging platform, social network, bookmarking site by trying to be active in all, but be selective. Once you have committed, build your brand consistently within and keep up with your profile. Make your presence feel genuine.
8. Don’t be anti-social, be personal.
Probably the biggest mistake that people make when they set out to “conquer” the social media networks is that they forget what it’s all about, to be social. You must get to know the person at the other end and build those relationships one at a time. You can build your list of interested parties exponentially by strengthening individual relationships. By doing this, you can reach out to the contacts of the person concerned and even further, to their contacts.
In social media, what are the biggest “no-no’s” from your point of view?
Adam Toren
Brand development which leads to brand management is the most important part in any business success. Branding is something which creates an image in front of your customer about your product.
This isn’t a “no-no” but a major missed opportunity:
When you tweet (on Twitter) that such-and-such is a great post/article, include the URL (with http://) to that post/article. It’s very annoying to read a tweet regarding a great article/post and not be able to click through to that article/post.
And, Adam, one of your most important points in this well-written post is that people must engage consistently in social media both in the time invested in their social media activities as well as the presentation of their brand on social media platforms.
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://twitter.com/ZimblerMiller
Some fantastic tips! Social media marketing is the way to go these days.
Unfortunately this is so, there is no universal, instantaneous development schemes, but very often people respond to the beautiful promises of instant earnings, that is our essence, sometimes we believe in miracles…!
Another great post. Thank you.
Your points about being patient and not selling are right on.
Adam
Just when we thought that enough SM folks have begged, pleaded, shouted, etc. to get to now us before you sell us … we are going to see a new wave of this as people make that new years resolution to be on Twitter, FF, etc. and we will have another wave of this.
Being around is key. It does not mean all day every day but be around to be social. People will notice when you are around. Also take part in twitter chats to keep up on what is going on in your industry and also add value to the conversation.
We know that there will be a flood of new accounts that will soon be neglected.
Great post! Here’s the bottom line, social media in general is like a big party. lets talk Facebook. What i tell people is that if you were to go to a house party, would you come up to someone, introduce yourself and right away ask if they are interested in hearing about your opportunity? of course not! then don’t do it on FB. Take your time and try to build relationships, not find “customers” (relationships are far more valuable then clients) In 2010 people do business differently then they used to, NOW PEOPLE DO BUSINESS WITH PEOPLE THEY LIKE, KNOW, AND TRUST. PERIOD! So what does that mean? stop spamming and trying to think about “whats in it for me?” and begin by helping others, and become a person of value, then people will want to talk to you, if you attack them with your lines, most people will be repulsed and you’ll be laughed at.
Social networking sites are one of the most important tools available to anyone that is trying to make business on internet. People should know how important this is and how much they can achieve by using it.
Cleared up alot of confusion for me thanks
Cleared up alot of confusion for me thanks
I’ve heard many mixed messages about social media marketing. Some people I know love it and others hate it with a passion. I guess it all comes down to how well you’re able to do it.
Next time we give it a run, I’ll try and implement your tips and see if they make a difference.
Thanks!