10 Keys to Social Media Success

10 Keys to Social Media Success

a. Experiment different platform.
i. Experiment different platform personally before doing it professionally
ii. Try a variety of social media tools
iii. Be yourself, make some friends, and share your content

b. Device a strategic approach to social Media (more on this in the next segment)

c. Research and Listen.
i. Find where your audience is participating and indentify the influencers
ii. Read industry blogs (including comments)
iii. Google your company name & your competition
iv. Find tools that can help you listen

d. Be open, transparent and honest.
i. Avoid puffery. (people will ignore it)
ii. Avoid evasion and lying (people won’t ignore it)
iii. Companies have watched their biggest screw-up's rise to the top 10 of a Google search
iv. Admit your mistakes right away

e. Share your content freely
i. Don’t be afraid to share. Corporations, like people, need to share information to get the value out of social media
ii. Make your content easy to share
iii. Incorporate tools that promote sharing: Share This, RSS feeds, Email a friend

f. Be personal and act like a person:
i. Don't shout. Don't broadcast. Don’t brag.
ii. Speak like yourself – not a corporate marketing script or press secretary
iii. Personify your brand – give people something they can relate to.
 
g. Contribute in a meaningful way
i. Think like a contributor, not a marketer
ii. Consider what is relevant to the community before contributing
iii. Don’t promote your product on every post
iv. Win friends by promoting other people’s content if it interests you

h. See every crisis and criticism as an opportunity to communicate your brand
i. Don’t try to delete or remove criticism (it will just make it worse)
ii. Listen to your detractors
iii. Admit your shortcomings
iv. Work openly towards an explanation and legitimate solution

i. Be pro active
i. Don’t wait until you have a campaign to launch - start planning and listening now
ii. Build relationships so they’re ready when you need them

j. Realise that you cannot do everything yourself
i. You need buy in from everyone in the organization
ii. Convince your CEO that social media is relevant to your organization
iii. Get your communications team together, discuss the options, then divide and conquer