Six Do's and Don'ts for Online Marketers
There are so many Do’s and Don’ts and the list could go on and on but these are what I feel are the most important to be conscious of when you are first starting out using social media for your online marketing efforts.
1. Do be prepared to put time and effort into your online marketing activities daily.
Keyword here is DAILY. If your a small business pla a minimum of 15 hours a week to support or have other resources to assist your online marketing efforts, if you can’t, you are not ready.
2. Do provide solutions to problems and address complaints openly online.
This is where you add significant value, especially when addressing complaints. First off, who doesn’t love drama or complaining? (I wish it weren’t so but then our reality stars wouldn’t be famous today) Don’t hide behind it, embrace it and realize that bad publicity can be good. If it is a mistake made on your behalf or you were wrong, own up to it. You will gain respect, appreciation and loyalty.
3. Do end each post with specific ‘Call To Action’.
Encourage readers to participate and engage with you otherwise they won’t. But remember to check for comments regularly and reply to expand the conversation and participation.
4. Do participate in other blogs and share in the conversations to gain exposure for new customers.
If you move to a new area you cannot expect to make new friends without stepping out and approaching others. This is why it is up to you to go find the communities and conversations and join in.
5. Don’t make it about you. It is not about YOU, it is about everyone else!
Do you have a friend that loves to talk about themself all the time, in any situation and with anyone? Annoying and frustrating right? Do you stop listening or give up trying to participate and share? Exactly what you don’t want to do online!
6. Do be creative with your headlines.
The more dramatic, direct or sensational the more it will be noticed. The best copywrighters read existing headlines to help get the creative juices flowing. Most of the time you can modify an existing one to fit your product or service. One I just saw today, “Why Most Conference Presentations Suck” How fantastic is that?
It all takes time, trust me, I am still working on #1, setting the time aside with proper planning to effectively support and participate. Don’t beat yourself up initially, you first have to crawl before you run.
Do you have a blog or are you participating in specific blogs? I would love to know and check you out!
Social Media Listening
Image source: bluejayway67 flickr
When a company first starts using social media, it’s like watching someone’s dad play with his first video camera. They seem to share everything in an attempt to engageĀ just to show some results. That’s not a judgment, mind you. Everyone has to start somewhere and it’s just counterproductive to be mean about it.
That’s according to Michelle Greer a Senior Manager of Corporate Communications at Rackspace, writing in a guest post for Building 43. I found her post interesting because she made the differentiation between “engaging” and “listening.”
Those of you new to social media have likely heard the word “engagement” too many times to count, we use it because it is a powerful term bringing to mind a sincere effort to communicate. But it’s easy to forget the other part of engagement; listening, perhaps the most important part of any social relationship in life.
Start your social media planning TODAY
If you haven’t stepped into social media land, now is the time (actually two years ago was the time, but we’ll forgive you). Glen from Top Rank published a list for beginners that is pretty slick, below we share some highlights;
1. Start small
You’ll want to start small and try a couple of services out at a time. Oftentimes newbies sign up for every social network under the sun and try to grow each of them. Guess how long they last? Building profiles for multiple social sites is hard work, so it’s best to start by only tackling a couple at first. Start small, and then grow to other social networks as your confidence grows. Success breeds success.
Wapa Tip: Let’s define “small” as three core components; 1) Blog 2) Facebook 3) twitter. Your blog serves as the “hub of the wheel” with FB and Twitter auto feed with updates so there is no maintenance, all you need to do is write, write, write.)