So you’ve decided to join the social media revolution eh? You’ve heard of plenty of other businesses making a killing from social media and you want a piece of that action. Well before you create anything, here is a list of home truths you need to know.
1. Social media marketing isn’t free. It costs you time (possibly your most valuable resource).
2. You need to make time to engage with people. It’s called social media for a reason.
3. You need to actively find relevant and value content to share with your followers.
4. You need to respond to comments directed at you.
5. You don’t need to watch your social media marketing every single second. Invest in tools that will help you stay relevant (and still sleep).
6. The rules of common courtesy still apply. Oh yes. A general lack of manners will get you shunned, just like in real life.
7. You will get out of social media marketing exactly what you put in.
8. Each social media platform has its own rules, guidelines, terms and conditions. And they change. All the time.
9. You won’t nail it overnight. It takes time and effort to make it a success [surprise surprise].
10. Social media marketing can be extremely rewarding if you put in the effort to make it work.
11. Each social media platform has its own culture. Its own vibe.
12. You shouldn’t spray exactly the same content across all social media platforms.
13. Automating some your updates is ok, but make sure you’re around for any comments. Engagement is the most important part.
14. You shouldn’t post one message across different platforms. Take the extra 3 seconds to customise it to the local culture.
15. Social media marketing won’t work as well on its own. Don’t forget your other marketing.
16. Facebook and Twitter aren’t indexed by Google but you can still use them to build a community and drive traffic to your website.
17. Google + content is indexed by Google so you should definitely get on to it.
18. You can build your word of mouth network beyond your imagination.
19. You can make some amazing friends while you expand your business network. Its true.
20. You will come across creepy spammers. Learn to block and report!
21. You’ll probably get your account hacked at some point. Don’t stress out. Just explain to your followers and move on.
22. You shouldn’t air your dirty laundry on social media. It makes you look bad.
23. Never get involved in public fights. They make you look bad.
24. Learn to take the good with the bad. If you’re not jerk, it should be mostly good.
25. You should be sharing your blog posts and any other content you create.
26. Don’t forget your international audiences. Post updates for different time zones.
27. Don’t just send out promotional messages about your business. The aim is to connect with people, not sell them to death.
28. When you get involved in other people’s discussions, you’re more likely to get more responses yourself.
29. You can use social media for market research.
30. Ask questions to get the wheels of discussions going.
31. When you ask questions, phrase them so that people don’t have to think too hard to respond.
32. When thinking about how often you’ll update your profiles, try and be consistent with your timing.
33. You should share other people’s content whenever it’s relevant to your followers.
34. You can actually ask your followers to share your content.
35. Don’t be afraid to show some personality but be professional.
36. It’s ok to just “listen and watch” but you’ll get more out the experience if you join in.
37. Don’t expect to nail it overnight. It takes practise and patience.
38. You shouldn’t outsource every part of your social media marketing. Part of being authentic is actually being there.
39. You need to be authentic because people can tell.
40. You should have a company blog and you should share it on social media.
41. Your business isn’t “too professional” to use social media marketing.
42. Think of ways to reward your followers with content or specials that are unique to each platform.
43. You should know if your location is relevant to your audience.
44. You shouldn’t be afraid to have some fun with it but remember it’s your business talking, right?
45. Following other people and businesses is a good place to start.
46. You should be reviewing your statistics regularly.
47. You should have a corporate policy or guidelines if you have a business social media presence.
48. You don’t need to invent new content for each platform.
49. You can turn one idea into many different pieces of content – it’s called content marketing.
50. Automated responses are lame and people might stop following you because of them.
51. You need to fill out your bio. People read them and use them to decide whether to follow you.
52. You don’t have to be on every social media platform.
53. Social media marketing isn’t for everyone. Don’t stress out if it isn’t right for you or your customers.
As you can see, there is a lot of reality behind the “magic” of social media marketing. If you take away nothing else from this little list, remember:
- Everything worth doing takes time and effort. So does social media marketing.
- Don’t be a robot. Be authentic and social and connect with people.
You can find plenty of online guides to using social media effectively so go and get learning!
Can you add to this list? I bet you can.
Belinda (AKA The Copy Detective)
9 Responses
Nice list Belinda!
Cheers!
Great list Belinda! I agree that you can’t
expect social media to work overnight. It’s a great way to market your business
and fantastic for making new connections, but it’s not a magic bullet. And you
do need to integrate it with other marketing strategies, like email for
example.
Thanks Denise! It was born out of many conversations that seemed to end up at exactly the points you make. Like anything in life, you get out what you put in! (number 7 😉
It’s not right for everyone but I do encourage people to give it a go. I couldn’t imagine my marketing without it!
Time, just seems to be the biggest factor!! but we will get there – thanks for the insight :0)
Nice List Belinda, I read everything twice to check what was I doing or not doing wrt social media. Thanks for sharing this 🙂