10 Keys to Social Media Success

1. 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 2. Device a strategic approach to social Media (more on this in the next segment) 3. 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 4. 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 5. 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 6. 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.   7. 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 8. 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 9. 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 10. 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.
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