There are NO gurus of social media. Social Media is simply TOO new for gurus. When it comes to social media marketing we’re all a newbie.
Finding out what works best for your company is going to require some tinkering and fiddling around. It will be a process of trial and error. Sadly many will simply give up before success or failure can even be measured.
Getting Off on The Right Foot
The dust will settle and we’ll look back at ‘social media’ as a buzzword. But from the hard learned lessons there will be best practices that we’ll continue to use. Here are a set of principles that can lay the foundation for a success social media initiative.
- Social media is not a technology. It’s a way of leading and connecting with people. Focus more on connecting, contributing and building rapport than on sales. Keep focusing on contributing and you’ll never run out of marketing leverage.
- An integrated marketing plan will include social media. Social media is more effective when incorporated into your marketing toolbox. Have goals and schedule your social media activities. Set up guidelines and establish training for staff to maximize results.
- To improve ROI you must implement a social media listening strategy using it consistently and on an on-going basis. Monitoring social media allows you to build up a good idea of the general sentiment towards your brand. Remember, bad feedback can be a branding opportunity if handled in the right way.
Crawl, walk, run. Start with small achievable initiatives and follow through with them. Learn from each of your experience and take it to the next level.