The 12-Step Social Media Marketing Manifesto

I have three types of clients coming to me for help with social media. There’s the “Gimme-Gimmes”, they’re the folks who’ve already been converted and are chomping at the bit to blast their online marketing through the roof via social media. There’s the “Huh-Whats”, the folks who, based on age, technophobia or simple busy-ness are totally out of the loop regarding social media. Then there’s the “Bitter-Nots”, folks who have attempted to incorporate social media marketing into their lives or business marketing and got burned one way or another. They say to me “Been there. Done that. Social media just doesn’t work for my business.” But something still tickles their brains that they need to do “something.”

Social media marketing and social networking are incredible marketing tools and should – if not must – be integrated into today’s business marketing plans. In the right hands with the right plans, social media will boost your business farther and further than any other marketing effort. Use them incorrectly and they’ll waste your time and money.

Below are several reasons why you might not be seeing results from your social media efforts:

1. You don’t have a plan.

Social media IS marketing; and successful marketing requires planning. If you’re just throwing articles, posts, and tweets out into the social sphere you are wasting your time and effort. You simply won’t make effective use of the medium.

2. You don’t have a goal.

What do you want to accomplish with your posts and tweets? You need to know what you want to achieve before you start. How else will you know what to talk about?

• Visibility for your business?
• New product announcements?
• Drive traffic to your website?
• Establish yourself as an expert?
• Get people to your workshops?

3. You don’t have a or know your target audience nor how to engage them.

Business 101 folks, know your target audience. If you do not know who your audience is – how old they are, how wealthy they are, what gender … then how will you know how to speak to them? If you don’t know who they are you will not only not know how to communicate with them you will likely not be very successful selling your product or service either!

4. You’re all about self-promotion.

Have you ever been to a party and become involved in a conversation with someone that begins and ends with “Me!”? If all you ever talk about is YOU your audience will begin to turn a blind eye to your posts and tweets.

5. You don’t get the “social” part of social media/networking.

Being social requires some interaction … like sharing and connecting. Commenting on other people’s posts, retweeting, sharing posts that you find interesting, sharing posts that might help someone else, responding when a friend asks a question. If you’re not doing that, you’re doing “solo” media.

6. You’re not following anyone.

Don’t follow everyone who follows you, but follow the right people – people that say interesting things, make insightful comments, point out unique sites and products. Be on the lookout for interesting people to follow. Periodically go through your new followers to see if you want to follow them in return.

7. You’re boring people.

Make your posts and tweets interesting, timely and relevant. If your posts and tweets aren’t interesting to your followers, why should they follow you, or recommend others follow you?

If your goal is to gain visibility as a color consultant, talk about color theory. Trends you’re seeing (or reading about) in the interior design field. Helpful tips for painting and decorating with color. Things that new homeowners need to know. Express yourself colorfully and your followers will likely retweet.

Don’t be afraid to throw in the occasional silly tweet just to make it fun. Tweets that make people smile get shared more than same ol’ same ol’.

8. You’re inconsistent.

With ANY marketing message its all about frequency and consistency. Consistency is very important because your tweets can begin to be looked forward to. People will begin to realize you always post on Monday morning or every day at 9am then make an effort to watch for it (especially if you are interesting).

9. You over-post or tweet endlessly.

Ever opened your Twitter feed only to find eight tweets in a row from one person? Space your tweets throughout the day. Don’t swamp your followers with tweets. Each tweet should stand alone so its message doesn’t get lost.

10. You haven’t developed a social media policy.

You’ve launched a social media campaign but haven’t created guidelines for yourself or your staff as to limitation of content. And now you’ve turned social media over to an intern, an employee or you’ve outsourced your social media to someone who doesn’t “get” marketing or completely understand what you do. Nor do they know what the boundaries are for what they may post or tweet. Suddenly, they’re discussing future projects or including topics that could backfire on the company.

11. You forgot about your keywords.

You should be using your keywords in your posts and tweets since that is how new followers will find you. You’ve invested in a well-researched keyword list (you HAVE, haven’t you?) so you should make every effort to use them wherever and whenever possible … posts, tweets, profiles, bios, marketing materials …

12. You’re not being authentic.

Authenticity is one of the key attributes for a solid social media/social networking connection. Try and portray yourself as someone you’re not, and you’ll find everything you do will be ineffectual. People see through schmaltz and dishonesty and will often find ways to spread the word about it.

In summation, when it comes to social media marketing (and all marketing for that matter) have a plan with a concrete, verifiable goal; define your message, define your target audience, create a schedule so you can maintain frequency and consistency; always share and be true to the spirit of your business … if you can do these basics, your business will always benefit from its exposure in social networks.