Why Common Sense Social Etiqutte Generates Engagement

The web and social platforms are littered with “magical advice” on making billions in seconds using social media. Much of it is a waste of time.

Read no further: the “magic formula” for social media is primarily: being honest, not having an over reliance on tech, coupled with sound tactical marketing.

Here’s a Short List of Social Feaux Pas to Avoid with Associated Alternatives

Broadcasting on Social Media is a Waste of Time

If you have no @ (at messages) in your Twitter stream, don’t comment back on LinkedIn when others share your content or thank social connections you are in “broadcast only” mode and you’re wasting your time.

This is the Silicon Valley Forum for connecting entrepreneurs and others. There is no “connectivity’ in their Twitter Account: it’s all broadcast of their events and activities. It’s boring. “Social” by its very definition means engaging with others. If your brand or business is too busy to engage on a social platform you are wasting your time.

If you are not engaging, it shows.

Recognize Interacting with Your Connections is “Read” & Understod by Social Networks – Especially Facebook

Robert Scoble knows more about Facebook’s algorithmic structure than anyone outside of the Facebook plex. One of the points he has made for a number of years is about Facebook’s ability to “see” and understand if you are commenting back on the platform.

Commenting back to queries, questions or bon mots on the platform gives Facebook a “signal” about who or what you are interested in.Act accordingly: it’s death by algorithm on some top tier social media platforms.

Asking People to take an Action (Share, Like, Whatever) is in the Rear view Mirror

This is passe today. If implicit value is not conveyed in your social share it’s not going to get much traction whether you send out requests or not. Social content success stands or falls somewhat on your Header and what’s implicit in it.

Buying Followers is Brand Suicide

Buying connections on social is just dumb. These people will never engage with you, you are unable to segment (using lists on Twitter) your Followers in any meaningful way and you are building a social profile on a house of cards.

Build connections over time and know that everyone started with no connections and there is no shame in having a social account with minimal activity. Your content legacy is much more important.

Automation Tools are Lame and tell the world Your Brand is Clueless

I see these types of Tweets all the time in my Twitter stream. As soon as I see one I know the individual is not very sophisticated, is not going to engage with me and is not social media savvy in a meaningful way.

The messages are really a viral marketing ploy for the platform as much as anything else.

Other Automated Social Media Activities to Avoid

• Using apps to “call out” and ask others why they Unfollowed you: the answer is no answer 99.99% of the time.
• Related to above: using automation to show other people that have unfollowed you.
• Using Buffer and HootSuite to exclusively to share pre-loaded content (esp via Twitter) and thinking savvy types don’t know. We do: the pattern is obvious and the URL string tells us the origin of the share.

Ad Nauseam and Endless Product or Service Promotion

You don’t want to just promote your brand, product or company endlessly via social media. You should promote your goods and service no more than 10-20% of the time. Share content that’s newsworthy, educational, informative; building value with your “audience.” It’s a two way street: they connect with you and you have “tacit” permission to market to them in a balanced manner.

Don’t Get down in the Gutter with Smutty Language

Have some class on social media and save colorful language for when you are hanging out with friends in private. Richard Pryor or Lenny Bruce were comedians and you’re not (unless Dennis Leary is reading this). Whatever language you share on social media will live in infamy and as time passes forward it may look even more egregious.

Intern Driven Social Media is Amateurish

Hiring an “intern” to manage your social media is just a stop gap measure and your content will reflect a lack of investment. Are some brands using entry level people or hiring agencies who are throwing an individual in the breech who is not experienced?Yes, but it shows and does not reflect well on your business. Stopgap possibly, but not not term.

Image Curation or Lack Thereof Makes a Statement about Your Business

LinkedIn is full of images that are just sophomoric and do nothing for a personal or company brand. If you are not curating (researching, analyzing and sharing meaningful images) your images and just throwing up chum in the digital waters you are making a mistake. Puzzles and images of quotes can be found and shared in a few minutes and again underscore the stupidity of the individual or brand.

It’s funky and boring.

Authenticity is the Social Asset that Defines Your Brand in a Meaningful Way

The offset to all of these issues I’ve raised in this post is one word: authenticity.

• Social Trust Signals drive authenticity: completed profiles, ongoing engagement, sharing helpful content, curating great images.
• Understand the difference between Transparency vs. self-promoting fluff (thinly veiled content about why your brand is so great).
• Curated images, videos and infographics: cheaply made content always reflects back on your brand.
• Social Engagement not just Broadcasting
• Sharing Smart Content that Informs and engages with implicit value.
• Owning up to mistakes; if you screwed something up belly up to the bar and take responsibility for it. Some of these situations can be turned around in your favor.

Three Critical Aspects of any Social Media Marketing Campaign

Stellar Content is the essential building block of any social media campaign starting with you blog, overlaying news, information, WhitePapers; i.e. content that educates and informs your community.

Audience Targeting: at the outset of any social media campaign you have to recognize who you are targeting and how you are adding “2+2 value” to their lives.

Engagement is the glue of every well done social media marketing. If you are not engaging you’re broadcasting and that marketing strategy will drive your brand into the proverbial ditch.

Savvy Community Management Skills Enable are Integral to High Value Social Media Marketing Campaigns

1. Use a tone for engaging with your community that’s conversational and a bit informal. Show a “human” side of your brand and know that at times this may generate a back and forth with an individual; but, that’s a positive thing and well worth the effort.

2. Learn to differentiate between tech and customer support. If the former, it may be much better for the customer to connect them with an individual who has the right technical expertise, versus a front line community manager who may not be able to provide an in-depth answer.

3. An old school FAQ may still be a great way to address questions or comments about your company and videos can provide a level of depth and completeness that commenting back and forth will never come close to.

4. Address questions with confidence and if you don’t know then don’t try to bluff your way through an answer. Better to say you don’t know and get the individual’s information and connect them with someone who can address their questions.

5. Caring community managers stand out when contrasted with those that are just trying to clear a queue. Passion, knowledge and care show through. So, make sure your language on a social platform is not ambivalent and comes across the right way. People are all in a hurry and some times subtlety does not work.

How to Drive Conversions with Social Media

Trust is a big part of the equation. It can take time with social media. Remember the “entire enchilada” of social media marketing: trust is determined by your bio on social platforms, your web site (content, images, contact & landing pages) and who and how you interact with others is part of the mix.

Tribal context is important: share content that will resonate with the Tribe of people, brands or businesses you want to build rapport with. Hanging out on the beach in Hawaii and sharing on Instagram may be great for your friends & family; but, sharing that on LinkedIn or Twitter, not so much.

You can sell on social media, contrary to what some may think. But, it’s tough doing this, especially for smaller less well know brands. Start with clear calls to action that move the visitor in your sales funnel and know “social” is typically not a one call close transaction driven medium, unless, again, you are a well know brand.

Have clear Calls to Action embedded in your site, content you are sharing, images and videos. Social consumers are distracted with short attention spans and “busy” web sites and content are not a good thing, au contrair to what some designers espouse.

Conclusion for Busy Execs

Brands and individuals struggle to stand out in today’s smartphone drenched world, unless you are a celebrity flavor of the month. Be consistent and classy and practice sound community management. It’s better to press on in silence with content that will build engagement over the long run vs. shouting fire in a crowded theater via social media. But, balance this carefully: only 10-20% of your content should be promoting your individual brand or business.

Yes, automation has a place in your marketing arsenal. But, don’t substitute automation for quality. It’s always going to show. Balanced social media marketing is optimum: mix and match tactical execution blending automation, sharing news that informs/engages, self promotion, engagement and even customer service.

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