Social Media Marketing: the Rules of Engagement. Back to basics Don’t lose sight of what...
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Social Media Marketing: the Rules of Engagement
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Transcript of Social Media Marketing: the Rules of Engagement. Back to basics Don’t lose sight of what...
Social Media Marketing:the Rules of Engagement
Back to basics
Don’t lose sight of what ‘marketing’ really is. It’s not just about advertising and selling…
“The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying
customer requirements profitably”(Chartered Institute of Marketing)
Keep this definition in mind when using social media marketing and you’re halfway there!
What is social media marketing (SMM)?
Using social media tools (like Twitter and Facebook) as part of your marketing toolkit, to connect with customers and other stakeholders and support a wide range of marketing disciplines/activities:
Marketing research
Marketing planning/management
Product/service development
Relationship management/customer services
Brand awareness/management
Promotional activities
Rule 1: Be part of the community
The clue’s in the word “social”
Etiquette is similar to face-to-face networking
These sites are communities, and these communities are not terribly tolerant of people who use these sites as personal billboards, broadcasting nothing but ads/self-promotion
“Listen” to what people are saying, and join in – as you would in a face-to-face networking event
Retweet/share friends’/fans’/followers’ requests for help, and introduce newcomers
Rule 2: Be human
People generally prefer to converse with other people, so keep automation to a minimumIt’s fine to talk about your pets, your kids, your holiday etc – shows you’re real and you have a personality – but don’t overdo itDon’t talk about anything you wouldn’t happily discuss with strangers at a networking eventConversation is a two-way thing; remember to listen and respondNever forget that you’re representing your brand; be human, but don’t damage your brand!
Rule 3: Mind your language
You don’t have to be a literary genius, but do watch your spelling and grammarTwitter’s space limit is 140 characters, so you’ll have to be creative (use a service like TwitLonger if a message can’t be condensed)Consider your audience and tailor your language accordingly (formal/informal/technical etc)Text speak is fine if your audience is primarily 13 year olds – but not appropriate for the majority of business communicationsAvoid sharing controversial views; the Internet has a very long memory!
Rule 4: Sharing is caring
If you have good news, whether business or personal, share it. People like good news.Share links (funny videos, new products on your website, industry/local news, etc) – but sharing should be audience-appropriateDon’t just share the same link over and over. This is spam, and people don’t like it.If a friend/follower posts a link and you feel your audience will appreciate it, share it; but always check the content is appropriate first
Rule 5: Thou shalt not spam
In most (but not all) cases, posting nothing but links to your own website will be considered ‘spamming’Posting the same link or story over and over again is spammy – try a bit of variety!If you’re posting an affiliate link, disclosure is considered politeAgain, avoid over-automation. A Twitter profile consisting of nothing but auto-tweets whenever a user mentions one of your keywords may cause your account to be reported/blocked
Typical ‘spammy’ Twitter user
I Tweeted a question about WordPress themes to a user I follow, and almost instantly received an auto-reply from a random user with a link to a WordPress themes websiteChecked their profile: all Tweets were in a similar vein – nothing to suggest a human user at all. So I reported them and blocked them (I do this every time!)Their account had disappeared within a couple of hours. Twitter does take spam reports seriously – so be careful!
Handy hints for Twitter
Write a descriptive biography. Before people decide to follow you, they’ll want an idea of who they’re dealing with.For smaller businesses, it’s better to use a photo of yourself, not your logo (you can create a background image and include your logo in that instead). There are exceptions to this, for example if more than one team member uses your account.Try to limit sales/promotional messages to 5-10% of your total output.Don’t worry too much about the number of people following you. Quality is far more important than quantity.
Cat got your tongue?
People often worry that they’d have nothing to talk about on Twitter; here’s a few suggestions:
The weather. Very British, but we all do it in real life, and it’s a good conversation starterLinks to helpful articles about business issues, or your industry, or your local area – these can kick-start interesting discussionsProjects you’re working on (if it’s a client project, avoid potential confidentiality breaches)Market research: ask questions, respond to answersRun a Twitter-only competitionShare ideas and ask for feedback
Non-business Tweets from business Tweeters
Handy hints for Facebook
Facebook generally works better for B2C, tourism, community projects etc – but don’t rule it out if you’re B2B; can still work wellMuch more flexible than Twitter: photos, videos, longer conversations, ‘notes’, customisable landing pages, etc.Create a page rather than group or profile: more features, better interactivity, user stats etcRemember to check for ‘hidden’ posts on your page’s wall; FB sometimes assumes posts from your fans are spam, when they’re notInvite your real friends to ‘like’ your page, and ask them to invite their other friends too
Further reading
Interesting article by Marketing Week about social media use by FTSE100 companies – worth a read: http://tinyurl.com/ftse-twitter
Article on my blog about Twitter/Facebook habits that irritate me: http://tinyurl.com/twitter-idiots
How raving fans create huge profits (Business Zone article): http://tinyurl.com/smm-raving-fans
My articles on EzineArticles about Twitter: http://tinyurl.com/debs-articles
