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Basic Rules for Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing can offer huge opportunities to converse, be social, and tell your story, with the hopes of generating new business. Social media is all about building and strengthening relationships and giving you the opportunity to show a more human and personal side to your company—all of which can be rather enjoyable. But, as much fun as social media is, it’s always a good practice to follow a few basic rules. Once you’ve created a blog and have begun to dabble in other social media outlets, you might want to consider these basic guidelines to help you develop a successful social media campaign.
Note to new readers: If you’re a newcomer to social media, we suggest you take some time to read our first two Archetype articles, Taking the Mystery out of Social Media Marketing, and our second article, Social Media Marketing Strategies, to give you some preliminary tips and techniques.
#1 – Prioritize your marketing efforts.
You first have to decide how social media ranks in importance to your overall marketing strategy and how much effort you should put into it. Will social media marketing really make a difference as to whether or not a potential customer’s decision maker will do business with your company? Can your brand be positively or negatively affected by social media conversations? Would creating a blog be enough? How will social media marketing fit into your overall media mix? (You can always seek help from marketing professionals, if you can’t decide.)
#2 – Know who you’re talking to and where they “hang out.”
Once you’ve decided that social media marketing is right for your business, the next step is to define your target audience. Building and managing relationships with the right people and groups, that are most important to you and your business, requires an understanding of who you need to be talking to, and why. After your audience has been determined, you can then find the communities and social media sites they frequent. Becoming a part of these communities will allow you to chat with the right people and convey your message.
#3 – It’s called “social” media for a reason.
Be social and participate, post, chat and engage. Actually use your social media sites that you’ve taken the time to create. There are many URLs lying dead and dormant on the Internet, due to people not putting aside the time to post comments, or just plain forgetting about them. Yes—time commitment is necessary when entering into a social media marketing campaign, but if you’re going to do it, then participate, or you’re just wasting a good URL. It goes without saying that adding new posts to your own site is vital, but don’t forget to post comments on other influential social media sites frequently—leaving intelligent comments and those precious “links” to your own sites wherever your social media journey takes you.
#4 – Speak clearly, honestly and…be nice.
When posting a comment, make sure you’re communicating in an intelligent, clear, and genuine manner. Be honest, but be sure to avoid negative or damaging statements—whether it’s talking about a competitor, or responding to a customer’s complaint. Social media is all about allowing your company to be transparent, so be ready to constructively address negative issues, if they arise.
#5 – Don’t sell, engage.
Avoid blatant sales tactics—be subtle in your approach. Social media marketing should attract your audience within social media networks and communities first through dialog and engagement—then with subtle marketing messages. Gimmicky and promotional tactics will not sit well with the social media community.
#6 – Don’t do ALL of the talking.
Listen. What are your viewers talking about? What are your competitors talking about? What are your customers saying about your company? If a negative comment appears relating to your products or services, feel their pain so you can respond appropriately (and possibly even learn what you can improve).
#7 – Don’t forget your brand philosophy!
Always remember to allow your brand promise and overall company philosophy to guide your social media marketing efforts. Your brand identity should be reflected throughout all of your dialogues. If you’re not sure what your brand identity is, turn to a marketing communications firm to help you develop one or enhance your current brand identity.
#8 – Social Media Marketing—It’s only part of the big picture.
Keep in mind that social media should be a support, not a substitution, for a well-developed integrated marketing plan, including branding, web development and more. Calling on the advice of an integrated marketing communications firm would be a good start.
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