Social Media Marketing: Get on Board!

By Adrianne Machina

In the last couple of years, a monumental shift has occurred online with the advent of Web 2.0 and social media marketing. Many companies are waking up to find themselves in a whole new world where they don’t know the language, the customs, or how to make friends. If that describes you, then today I’d like to be your Web 2.0 tour guide. 

I, too, was once a lonely, lost soul, with just one friend on Facebook, a severely underused LinkedIn account, no blog, no Twitter, and really no understanding of why I needed to change. I had a beautiful, compelling, persuasive, optimized Web site - wasn’t that enough? No.  It was a great start, but it was only the beginning. 

By joining the social media revolution, I’ve gained clients, friends, and referral Partners. I’ve booked speaking engagements and interviews. I’ve aligned myself with a group of marketing professionals that I can ping when I need help. Online friends continually feed me information, Web site resources, and tools that make me better at my job - they even sent me ideas for this article! I’ve found job leads for friends and business leads for clients. In the past year, I’ve come to realize that social media marketing is one of the best, most affordable ways for small businesses to become known and trusted in their marketplace. 

Before we go too far, first I want to tell you what I mean by social media marketing and Web 2.0. 

Social Media Marketing works off the “six degrees of separation” principle. Everyone knows that the best leads and business Partners come through referrals, but in the off-line world, your friends’ friends are often hidden to you - and even your friends might not REALLY know what you do.  Social media marketing turns citizens into marketers by allowing real people to share their favorite products, services, and friends with the people they know.

Web 2.0 is a larger concept. Super simply, just think of Web 2.0 as the start of a two-way conversation. The conversation can be with one person or with many. When people talk about making their Web site more “Web 2.0,” they usually mean they’re going to start adding blogs, forums, wikis, Twitter feeds, Facebook links, and so on that will turn Web site visitors into Web site participants.

(Note: Search “Common Craft” on www.YouTube.com for plain English explanations of these concepts.)

Before you jump right in to social media marketing, let me give you some tips on the RIGHT WAY to start getting involved. The first thing I recommend you do is start reading blogs. I prefer to feed my favorite blogs into Microsoft Outlook 2007 for easy reading at my convenience, but some people prefer Google Reader or other feed readers. Once you’ve become a regular blog reader, then you can start commenting on other people’s blogs, then writing your own blog, and then publishing your blog out into the social media marketing world. 

Why do I recommend you start with blogs? Because blogs create the strong foundation for the rest of your online social media marketing efforts. You are showing up to the party with something interesting to say! John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing put together an online marketing hierarchal pyramid, with the premise that it’s difficult to move up the pyramid without satisfying the foundational needs first. Go to http://tinyurl.com/dtm-pyramid for the full article. 

Now that you understand why you should get involved with social media marketing, and what your first steps might be to get involved, let me give you a little advice on HOW to get involved and the social etiquette that you must observe in order to be successful. 

Adrianne’s Social Media Marketing Etiquette Tips

• Etiquette Tip #1: Don’t barge in with guns blazing. When you are new to Web 2.0 and social media marketing, it is best to move slowly and cautiously. Everything you write will go down on your permanent record, and you don’t want to start off on the wrong foot, making a serious gaffe that requires recovery. Read before you post. Don’t ask obvious questions. Look for the frequently asked questions (FAQ) page.
• Etiquette Tip #2: Don’t SPAM! Everyone has a different definition of what spam is, but any time you pitch your product or service immediately after making a friend, you look guilty of spamming. If you wouldn’t do it face-to-face, don’t do it on the Web. When you start your blog, DO NOT make all your blog posts about your products and services. That’s what your Web site pages are for. On your blog, you need to be more conversational and informal. Talk about your prospect’s pain. Relate to current news stories. Only five to 10 percent of your posts should be self-promotional.
• Etiquette Tip #3: Remember that “social” comes before “marketing” in social media marketing. Switch your mindset to a GIVING mentality. People will remember your helpfulness with their problem. They will like you and want to get to know you better. Everyone on the Web has some product or service to sell, but you have to build the relationship before you start pitching your solution. You need to have conversations, reply to people, ask interesting questions, and engage with people.
• Etiquette Tip #4: Don’t just “find friends.” Build your list for quality. Facebook sets limits on how many friends you can add per day, but Twitter lets you dig your own grave - and believe me, if you start following too many people, and you have no “friends,” people will distrust your motives. Some people choose to link to anyone on LinkedIn or Facebook, but I’d rather pick my friends more carefully. I don’t want a phone book; I want a little black book. Am I concerned about putting my list out there for all to see? No. I’m ecstatic when I can make connections for people! If I’m treating my clients well, no one could pry them away.
• Etiquette Tip #5: Be careful about the personal/professional balance. Baby boomers have a tendency to want to keep everything private, and the Generation Y group thinks nothing of sharing their beer-binging party pictures on the Web. There’s a fine line that you want to maintain. You want to be personal enough to be authentic, and discrete enough not to embarrass your employer, your mother, or your children.

Whether you are on board or not, Web 2.0 has arrived, and the early adopters will reap the greatest rewards. Just like you probably get your best leads from referrals today, you will get your best leads from referrals tomorrow. The only difference is that social media marketing will allow you to extend your network of referral sources exponentially - and you won’t even have to pay for lunch.

Adrianne Machina is the Chief Velocity Officer of Tornado Marketing, Inc. and an Authorized Duct Tape Marketing Coach. A huge Web 2.0 advocate, Adrianne’s marketing strategies and copywriting service help clients leverage the Web to bring in more leads and most importantly - more sales!  Having worked in the Microsoft Dynamics channel since 2000, Adrianne provides valuable insight into how to market complex solutions. For more information, visit www.TornadoMktg.com.

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The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Microsoft.