As I said yesterday, I was recently asked if social media is going to replace traditional advertising. Here's the 2nd part of my answer:
Follow the Do’s and Don’ts
Because social media is all the rage and profiles are relatively easy to set-up, many people are jumping on the bandwagon and creating company or organizational profiles on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIN, or YourTube to name a few. Before you get too far ahead of yourself, consider these do’s and don’ts:
- Do Your Research - There are 100’s of social media networks , and signing up for all of them would be nearly impossible. The first step of establishing an effective social networking profile is learning the demographics of each and finding out where your customers are. If your customers are not on MySpace then it doesn’t make sense to invest your time there.
- Don’t Overextend Yourself - A word to the wise - social networking can become all consuming. Most of us don’t have 5 hours a day to commit to blogging, Facebooking, Tweeting or updating our lens on Squidoo. My advice – find the 2-3 social networking sites where your customers are and establish your profiles there. Quality posts in a few places is a far better plan than mediocre work spread out over a dozen social sites.
- Do Understand the Time Investment - I often hear people say that social networking is a must because it’s free. Yes, signing up to be on social networking sites is free. But branding your profiles and maintaining them is not! Creating, engaging, and growing an online community takes time, talent, technology, resources and people. Setting up profiles on social networking sites is easy, building and maintaining these relationships is not!
- Don’t Sell, Sell, Sell – Direct, hard core advertising won’t work on social media because it’s not what people are seeking. They want to know more about your company or organization get to know who you are, not what your selling.
We are in an era where people expect a more honest and direct relationship with the companies and organizations they do business with. Social media is about engaging in conversations and building relationships – it’s not about push marketing. Think relationships first, business second, because when marketers move into to social networking, members move out.
Humanizing your business or organization by posting transparent, genuine and authentic updates will lead to stronger fans and followers and an increase in word of mouth marketing. Don’t always talk about the products you sell, the services you offer, the money your organization is trying to raise; rather, provide value to your fans and followers by posting industry related tips and tricks they can learn from, humor they can laugh at, or inspiration to motivate them. Your interaction should be informal and conversational. Not only will this help frame you as a thought leader in your industry, it will help produce engaging conversations.
And, oh, don’t obsess about the number of fans or followers you have –just like traditional networking or building a new friendship or business relationship –it takes time if you prefer a quality relationships. The same holds true when building your online network.
Learn By Participating
Not sure where to begin? Start by watching, learning and listening. Find other companies who are already using social media in their marketing strategies, and follow them or become a fan. Read their posts, watch how their fans interact with them, and study their profiles. Makes notes about what you like and what you don’t like, what appeals to you and what doesn’t.
Still have questions? There are lots of companies who can help you establish your profiles, strategize, and consult with you on best practices to take your marketing strategies online. Do your research here, too. Check out their own social media profiles and ask for links to the profiles they’ve established for other clients. Talk to these clients to make sure they were happy with their experience.
With the popularity of social media in society today, it will soon seem like every business is posting a profile somewhere. Certainly, those who aren’t taking advantage of social marketing techniques will be at a disadvantage, but just being on Facebook or Twitter won’t bring success. Businesses and organizations must have a strategy and they must focus on relationships! Thoughtfully developing the “social” side of your company comes with many benefits – not the least of which is increased customer loyalty and a strong network of “word-of-mouth” advertisers that can help bring new customers to your door!
Be sure to check out yesterday's post for more on taking advantage of social networking!
Posts
