Five Ways to Kill Your Social Media Campaign
Everyone wants to make the right impression – whether it’s in person, by phone, email or other mode of communication. We practice what we’ll say, spend time crafting a solid email introduction, make sure our hair is neat and breath is fresh. But when it comes to social media marketing, some of us show up with bad form and no game plan.
I’ve been doing a lot of reading and research on the best practices in social media, and there’s a lot of great information out there to help us start off on the right foot and navigate this emerging medium. If you can avoid committing these five social media marketing faux pas, you should be on your way to social success.
1. No Game Plan
Let’s be clear about one thing right away – hesitation and over thinking have no place in social media marketing. If you’re going to engage, you need to commit to do it and get going. However, this doesn’t mean going in guns blazing with no clear goals in mind. You need to put together some sort of strategy. Who is your audience? What sorts of information is important and or valuable to these people? How often can you commit to being active in discussions and engaging with your audience?
2. Not Committing
Starting out in social media marketing is a little overwhelming, but if you have decided to dive in, you’d better be in it for the long haul. Going social takes perseverance; it’s not for those who crave instant gratification, or need to be able to quantify ROI within a week. It’s a process that takes time. You’re attempting to build trust and authentic connections in a world that, let’s face it – doesn’t really trust “business” anymore. Be sure you can make this a regular part of your marketing process.
3. No Buy-in
If you’re the only one in your organization that has bought into the fact that social media is here to stay and not some “fad” then you’re in for an uphill struggle. Without buy-in from key decision makers you’re not going to get the respect, resources and support your organization needs to do this and do it well.
4. No Patience
You posted your first tweet yesterday. Today, you’re tapping your foot in frustration wondering where all of your followers are. Or you finally connected with the perfect client on LinkedIn last week and they haven’t lined up for your product yet. You’re setting yourself up for disappointment with that mentality. Social media marketing is all about an exchange of ideas and information and providing value to your audience. Remember – it’s about establishing a relationship.
5. Selling
Yup – that’s what I said. The quickest way to kill your chances for developing “street cred” is to start out by pushing your products and services on people. You will come off as someone who is desperate to sell something, not share ideas. And social is all about sharing. Take Chris Brogan’s latest blog post, “Stop Humping My Leg.” Brogan had a respected friend trying to push a demo on him at a conference. He summed up my point by saying “This is a relationship. Everything is a relationship. Even if it’s on the transactional side of the spectrum, it’s a relationship. Think of it that way. Think of the protocols of getting into the better parts of a relationship” (2009).
There are plenty of opportunities out there to develop and cultivate some great relationships and collaboration. But it takes time, commitment, planning, organizational buy-in and the right attitude. Do you have what it takes?
