I recently attended a Webinar hosted by Social Media Magic, a firm specializing in Social Media Marketing, about ROI (Return Of Investment) in Social Media. The webinar was a great way to clarify ideas that I might have already ‘known.’ Specifically, the biggest thing that I took away…and it’s painfully obvious…people don’t want to be marketed at.

Mark Anderson

Yet, aggressive and impersonal marketing strategies happen all the time. Someone could justify that, ‘If it wasn’t profitable, people wouldn’t do it.’ Correct, but it could be done better in order to MAXIMIZE profit (thus ROI). Plus, it would annoy many less people. I don’t know how many times I went into my Twitter or Facebook account and felt like I needed a poncho to avoid what seemed to be spam raining down all around me or earplugs to drown out all of the empty noise.

Just as telemarketers used to (back in the days when they were allowed), some social media marketers commit a deadly sin: invading personal space. Since business is usually built on trust, no one is going to trust you if you don’t have their permission to enter into their digital personal space. Of course, gaining trust is a tricky issue. Just because someone accepts a ‘friend request’ does someone give you permission to barrage them with promotions, updates, and news? The answer is an emphatic no!

But how do you get and build trust through internet marketing? The secret is actually pretty straightforward because one of the beauties of internet  and search marketing is that you can target people who are already INTERESTED. I’ll give  you an example to illustrate:

Ever notice how TV advertisements change based on the program? It’s because networks are paying big money and using complex demographic data to reach their target audience. But frankly, when I’m watching ‘Hitch’ (I love the movie), I can’t say I give two hoots about a woman’s multivitamin advertisement. Essentially, the advertiser is inefficient.

However, if I’m on Facebook and I become a ‘fan’ of Fender Guitars (which I LOVE) and they post an update about a new guitar model, I’m much more interested from the start and am much more likely to visit their website and convert into a sale. As well, if I were searching for ‘Fender Guitars’ and I saw a blog update, tweet in Twitter, or YouTube video I’m already ACTIVELY pursuing the  product.

Essentially: interest = value = trust. Sure. Obvious. But how do you do it? Telling someone to ‘be interesting’ or ‘add value’ to their marketing strategy is like telling someone to get a personality. It’s vague. There are loads of ways to execute valuable and interesting social media marketing strategies, but the key is to act like a person. Engage your audience.

If someone didn’t have a personality, you’d likely tell them, get a hobby, join a club, etc, etc. The same goes for businesses in social media: get a personality. A business social media ‘personality’ can mean a lot of things. Good ways to get a personality are: giving expert advice or useful information like tips or how-tos (think asking your uncle on how to fix a transmission), sharing information that the business finds interesting (think your friend telling you a story), or host a webinar or event (think of a local ski and snowboard club trip).

To illustrate, here are some Social Media Marketing DO’s and DON’Ts

Twitter

DO: Re-tweet things that you are really interested in or that to which you can usefully contribute.

DON’T: Tweet every hour about every minute detail and update and follow everyone just because you think it’s a game of odds.

Facebook

DO: Create a fan page that’s integrated with your other social media sites (think YouTube) or application that engages users.

DON’T: Create a group or page that has the same stuff you’ll find on your website and continuously solicit people to join.

LinkedIn

DO: Have your employees create profiles, engage in relevant groups, start a group yourself about your area of expertise.

DON’T: Spam people by trying to connect through mutual connections.

YouTube

DO: Instead of writing a blog, make a ‘Vlog’ (Video+Blog…not sure if this is a word, but I like it anyways) using a youtube video that you can embed in your blog.

DON’T: Think that YouTube is just a place for videos about cats doing funny things.

Wordpress (Blogs)

DO: Write about an event you went to, give expert advice, post your evaluation of useful resources, or great a 101 or Top-Ten List.

DON’T: Copy and paste press releases.

Hopefully the difference between the DO’s and the DON’Ts for each social media channel are relatively obvious. The DON’Ts tend to have the same characteristics in common: they require minimal effort and are uninteresting. If you’re looking for an easy and magical fix to your marketing strategy through social media I have bad news. It’s not that easy and it takes time.

Fortunately, if you’re passionate about your business, you shouldn’t be worried about the time you’ll be putting into it because you already enjoy talking about it, right? The key is to use your passion to add value through providing interesting media. Just as with people, someone who is ‘interesting’ is passionate about what they do and it’s contagious. Your business should have a contagious passion, it should not be a carrier of the contagion that is spammy and boring marketing.

If you found this interesting or would like to learn more, please let me know…I’ve got more where this came from. If you’re interested in how Fizzmod can help your social media or search marketing strategies, please feel to holler at us through our contact page.