If you have a Facebook or Twitter profile, you are probably thinking that social network marketing is easy. After all, you’ve had a lot of practice on these social networks with your friends. Right?
Wrong. Running a company profile on Facebook and Twitter is so much different from how you run your personal profile. The people who follow you aren’t friends who will be forgiving of the
faux pas you commit online. These are people whose opinions matter when it comes to your brand.
Like you, many other social network marketers are still feeling their way through this whole new phenomenon. Not everyone has done so successfully. The good thing is, we can learn from those who have gone before us.
We’ve put together some how-to advice on social network marketing. Some of these suggestions are practical ones that you’ve probably heard before. Still, it always helps to know the fundamentals before you start to do your own thing.
So here are our five how-to’s for a successful social network marketing campaign:
- You can’t be in two social networks at once.
As a multitasking marketer, you’re probably so excited to start social network marketing on Twitter, Plurk, or Facebook that you open an account in each of these and start tweeting, plurking, and posting status updates. Yes, that happens to most of us newbies. However, what we all fail to see is that like in real life, it’s simply impossible to be active in all social networking sites at once. And because you can’t . . .
- Focus on only one social network and strengthen your fan base there.
When we multitask, sometimes the quality of our work is sacrificed. That is also how it’s like when we straddle two social networks at one time. The trick is to focus on only one. Know all the ins and outs of that social network. Build your fan base there. Engage your followers, post regular updates, run a contest. Once you have established a strong fan base, you can rest easy and let someone else take over while you build another base in another social network.
- Get someone to represent your brand.
If you have a brand ambassador, it helps to have that person moderate or manage your social network profile by posting status updates, asking a question, or running a contest. Find a person that your fans can relate to. People don’t easily trust a brand unless they are familiar with the person behind the logo.
- Let the real you shine.
Don’t be a put-on. Your fans will know if you’re faking it. Social networking is all about engaging people, getting to know them, sharing your thoughts—building relationships. You can’t build a relationship based on something that isn’t real.
- Participate.
Remember that you’re not the only one out there. There are other social media marketers who are working to further their brands. Go and start a conversation with others. Network the way you would offline. Ask questions. You will find that you’ll learn a lot about improving your brand — and not just about social media marketing — by engaging those around you in real conversations.A social network is also, in some ways, a social situation — and the way we treat other people has an impact on how we are viewed. Being kind, nice, and polite will take you a long way down the social network marketing trail, and maybe you’ll find that by being so, you won’t be trudging down a lonely road.
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