Social Media Marketing: the Rules of Engagement

1. Social Media Marketing:the Rules of Engagement

2. Back to basics • Don’t lose sight of what ‘marketing’ really is. It’s not just about advertising and selling… “The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably” (Chartered Institute of Marketing) • Keep this definition in mind when using social media marketing and you’re halfway there!

3. What is social media marketing (SMM)? • Using social media tools (like Twitter and Facebook) as part of your marketing toolkit, to connect with customers and other stakeholders and support a wide range of marketing disciplines/activities: • Marketing research • Marketing planning/management • Product/service development • Relationship management/customer services • Brand awareness/management • Promotional activities

4. Rule 1: Be part of the community • The clue’s in the word “social” • Etiquette is similar to face-to-face networking • These sites are communities, and these communities are not terribly tolerant of people who use these sites as personal billboards, broadcasting nothing but ads/self-promotion • “Listen” to what people are saying, and join in – as you would in a face-to-face networking event • Retweet/share friends’/fans’/followers’ requests for help, and introduce newcomers

5. Rule 2: Be human • People generally prefer to converse with other people, so keep automation to a minimum • It’s fine to talk about your pets, your kids, your holiday etc – shows you’re real and you have a personality – but don’t overdo it • Don’t talk about anything you wouldn’t happily discuss with strangers at a networking event • Conversation is a two-way thing; remember to listen and respond • Never forget that you’re representing your brand; be human, but don’t damage your brand!

6. Rule 3: Mind your language • You don’t have to be a literary genius, but do watch your spelling and grammar • Twitter’s space limit is 140 characters, so you’ll have to be creative (use a service like TwitLonger if a message can’t be condensed) • Consider your audience and tailor your language accordingly (formal/informal/technical etc) • Text speak is fine if your audience is primarily 13 year olds – but not appropriate for the majority of business communications • Avoid sharing controversial views; the Internet has a very long memory!

7. Rule 4: Sharing is caring • If you have good news, whether business or personal, share it. People like good news. • Share links (funny videos, new products on your website, industry/local news, etc) – but sharing should be audience-appropriate • Don’t just share the same link over and over. This is spam, and people don’t like it. • If a friend/follower posts a link and you feel your audience will appreciate it, share it; but always check the content is appropriate first

8. Rule 5: Thou shalt not spam • In most (but not all) cases, posting nothing but links to your own website will be considered ‘spamming’ • Posting the same link or story over and over again is spammy – try a bit of variety! • If you’re posting an affiliate link, disclosure is considered polite • Again, avoid over-automation. A Twitter profile consisting of nothing but auto-tweets whenever a user mentions one of your keywords may cause your account to be reported/blocked

9. Typical ‘spammy’ Twitter user • I Tweeted a question about WordPress themes to a user I follow, and almost instantly received an auto-reply from a random user with a link to a WordPress themes website • Checked their profile: all Tweets were in a similar vein – nothing to suggest a human user at all. So I reported them and blocked them (I do this every time!) • Their account had disappeared within a couple of hours. Twitter does take spam reports seriously – so be careful!

10. Handy hints for Twitter • Write a descriptive biography. Before people decide to follow you, they’ll want an idea of who they’re dealing with. • For smaller businesses, it’s better to use a photo of yourself, not your logo (you can create a background image and include your logo in that instead). There are exceptions to this, for example if more than one team member uses your account. • Try to limit sales/promotional messages to 5-10% of your total output. • Don’t worry too much about the number of people following you. Quality is far more important than quantity.

11. Cat got your tongue? • People often worry that they’d have nothing to talk about on Twitter; here’s a few suggestions: • The weather. Very British, but we all do it in real life, and it’s a good conversation starter • Links to helpful articles about business issues, or your industry, or your local area – these can kick-start interesting discussions • Projects you’re working on (if it’s a client project, avoid potential confidentiality breaches) • Market research: ask questions, respond to answers • Run a Twitter-only competition • Share ideas and ask for feedback

12. Non-business Tweets from business Tweeters

13. Handy hints for Facebook • Facebook generally works better for B2C, tourism, community projects etc – but don’t rule it out if you’re B2B; can still work well • Much more flexible than Twitter: photos, videos, longer conversations, ‘notes’, customisable landing pages, etc. • Create a page rather than group or profile: more features, better interactivity, user stats etc • Remember to check for ‘hidden’ posts on your page’s wall; FB sometimes assumes posts from your fans are spam, when they’re not • Invite your real friends to ‘like’ your page, and ask them to invite their other friends too

14. Further reading • Interesting article by Marketing Week about social media use by FTSE100 companies – worth a read: http://tinyurl.com/ftse-twitter • Article on my blog about Twitter/Facebook habits that irritate me: http://tinyurl.com/twitter-idiots • How raving fans create huge profits (Business Zone article): http://tinyurl.com/smm-raving-fans • My articles on EzineArticles about Twitter: http://tinyurl.com/debs-articles

15. Get in touch… • debs@debbidoo.com • 01286 400 159 • http://twitter.com/debbidoo • www.debbidoo.com