Our expert’s top five tips for social media marketers

Managing and growing a brand’s presence, no matter the medium, is serious business. Yet, many still believe that the job of a social media professional is frivolous at best— simply to tweet once in a while, upload photos and videos, and get the brand to “trend” on these social networks. So much so, the term “social media guru” is heavily derided on these very social networks! The truth is that as fleeting as social media interactions may seem, they can have a pronounced impact on the brand and the business. Maybe it’s time for five commandments that social media marketers should follow to maximise the value yet adding value to your customer’s ‘social’ lives? If you’re managing a brand in the social space read on…

THOU SHALT NOT GO BY NUMBERS (ALONE):

While everything in business seems to be better measured by numbers, here’s one department where quality beats quantity. Yes, it’s great—almost an ego boost—to have millions of Twitter followers and Facebook fans, but this fanatic obsession of accumulating an online following will get you nowhere. Ask any seasoned professional— there is no value in a mob of fans if they don’t really care about what you have to say. More important is to engage your audience via well-produced, engaging content with a clear call to action that addresses their concerns or needs. This—rather than an overnight campaign that lands you thousands of followers—will build a loyal and committed fan following, nay even brand evangelists, the influence of which far surpasses that of casual, lesser engaged audiences.

THOU SHALT ALWAYS LISTEN:

While it may seem obvious to do, far too few social media marketers listen to their audiences first before broadcasting their messages. As with any social interaction offline, never forget that social is a two-way street, and no one, least of all discerning consumers, like to be talked at. Monitor conversations about your brand—they’re plenty of tools available that will do the job for you—and jump into conversations intelligently with a sincere offer to help, either by way of helpful or entertaining content or useful offers. If you are using social media for customer service, respond quickly and honestly, even if it is to say that someone is on the job trying to identify the cause of the issue and ask for the customer’s patience on the issue.

THOU SHALT BE LIKEABLE (ALMOST ALWAYS):

The days of stiff upper lips are passé—with a social presence, your business can develop relationships with the community on both the friend and expert levels, and your personality can shine through the information—free advice, funny “insider” stories, engaging conversations— you share. Don’t take yourself too seriously—while it’s great to have serious content, it’s all right to have fun when the occasion is right. This can help your brand stand out in the clutter of tweets and posts that crowd your readers’ timelines each day.

THOU SHALT BE POSITIVE AND UPBEAT ONLINE:

The positivity helps spread the good word about the brand in a far more lasting manner than momentary negativity (about the competition or the operating environment) ever will. And do good—post material that is useful to the reader rather than only posting promotional material. Joe Pulizzi from Content Marketing Institute suggests a 4-1-1 rule for Twitter engagement that can as well be extended to other social media channels - for every one self-serving tweet, you should re-tweet one relevant tweet and share four pieces of relevant content written by others i.e. share more non-promotional posts before you go in for a soft or hard sell. Plus it will help build social currency with other thought leaders in your space.

THOU SHALT RESPECT YOUR FOLLOWERS’ TIME:

Place yourself in the shoes of your followers before you hit the Post or Tweet button. Does this post add value to your audience— from their perspective? If not, delete and start over. Be brief—you only have a precious few seconds to catch someone’s attention— make it worth their time by using concise language, visuals (infographics, in particular) which have immediate impact. Do not spam your audience, inducing a negative reaction to your social presence and ultimately your business. Also, be wary of overusing hashtags—especially when using them in unrelated posts to drive additional visibility and traffic, which leads to viewers feeling cheated.