Top Tips for Social Media Participation
Posted on September 26th, 2009 in Online Marketing & Promotion, Social Media.
Tags: best practices, Social Media, success, tips
Although there are no ‘golden rules’ for social media, I recently came across a few great pointers that – if followed – could quite easily help you achieve your goals faster. Find below some of the top tips I found for participating in the online social media world.
Listen
Listening thoughtfully gives you a better sense of not only what people are saying but also how they are feeling. In virtual spaces where there are no visual cues, good listening skills become a powerful asset. The key to successful social media marketing is listening.
Add Value
Enter any online conversation with the aim of adding value. Before posting a message as a new participant in a forum, ask yourself: How is this providing value to the conversation or to the community? In some circles, talking about your product or service can be considered valuable, but in most, it is unwelcome and intrusive.
Share
If you’ve got it, share it, spread it around. I’m not talking money – I’m talking about time, information and knowledge. In social media, sharing is the fuel of the conversation engine.
Give Kudos
Social media works when you are generous. There is nothing wrong with self-promotion, but things really take off when you give others praise or a moment in the spotlight. The rise of retweeting – real retweeting, not spammy retweeting – shows how far giving credit to others can go in social spaces.
Don’t Spam
There is an ugly surge of spamming in social media. On Twitter, it can be a daily chore to delete people I’m following who send out spam messages, but I just don’t have the time or interest to tolerate the “Get Lots of Followers on Autopilot” spam and many others don’t either. People are wising up.
Be Real
Authenticity is the secret ingredient behind any good and valuable social media marketing campaign. If you know your audience, locate them online, listen, add value, respond, refrain from spamming and just be yourself, you’ll have far better and more long-lasting positive results than if you try to be someone – or something – you’re not.
Collaborate
Before you dive into social media for marketing and selling, take a look at who is out there and who is doing it well. How can you work with them, instead of trying to muscle your way into the space with all of your dollars? If you put your money in places where it can do good while generating goodwill for your brand, you’ll be much more likely to get a positive result from social media.
What other tips do you have for working with social media?
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