Social Media Rules of Engagement

In an interesting post by Mark Juleen Walkin’ the Line, Mark discusses the difference between effectively engaging in social media vs. spamming users.  As a consumer, I wish social media is an unbiased conversation, but this is not the reality of the marketplace.  Brands and advertisers supply the dollars for most of the websites that host the conversation.  Without revenue (or the potential for it), Facebook, Blogger, YouTube, Yelp, and even Twitter would have to shut their doors.  If consumers continue their fundamental belief that the internet is free, we have to understand the fact that advertisers will attempt to join the conversation.  There have been hundreds of posts of how to use social media as a marketing tool, but here is the quick 1,2,3…4.

1)    Join the conversation
It is more important to join the conversation and build a relationship before you self-promote.  Discuss current trends, provide some news and facts in your industry, talk about the weather, whatever.  The main ingredient here is to build some rapport before promoting your product.

2)    Be yourself
Obvious.  No one wants to talk to “Craigslist”.  We want to talk to Craig Newmark.

3)    Be engaging
Social media is not about just broadcasting messages, it is about engagement. Ask questions, talk to customers, be responsive, and be interesting.

4)    Provide value to the end user
If the end user is not gaining any value from the conversation, they will leave.  And in the case of most social media outlets, the value is in content.  

If every other message, post, or tweet is about how great you are, then you are either Apple or a spammer.  Instead of sending a message about new features, discuss the feature, talk about the pros and cons, how it is going to affect users, and ask for feedback.  One-way messages have some value, but creating the conversation around the message is much more effective.

Let’s take the use case of Twitter.  Everyone is talking about Twitter.  Everyone wants to utilize Twitter.  Gary Vanderchuck said it best, “Having Twitter is like having a cell phone.  No one cares.”  Serioulsy, no one cares.  Having a Twitter account does not mean you have a social media marketing strategy.  Determine what you’re end goals are, listen to your customers, engage partners, friends, and users, and find a way to provide value. 

Anyone want to start/contribute a wiki around ideas for use cases for apartments around specific social media marketing?  I've started it, but I need help!  http://socialmediaideas.pbwiki.com/