What Social Media Marketing Gives Back To You
03/05/2007
Girlfriend, what do you get when you do your job well? Not your organization but you? A raise? A promotion? The employee of the month parking spot? The satisfaction of knowing you did your best and moved the brand forward? Good stuff all.
Had an interesting email volley with Tim Jackson, the Masiguy, that put a slightly different spin on social media marketing for me. Executing an advertising, research, public relations, sales or any other traditional marketing strategy brings success or not. I never thought about social media marketing in terms of the marketer getting something back other than the "marketing" of the brand.
Sure as you do business vendors, customers and people you meet along the way can turn into friends too. However, the "social" in social media rings true. No other strategy gives me back more than what I put it.
15 Social Media Networking Ideas
- Find who is linking and mentioning you: review your stats, create an RSS feed and Google Alerts that include your blog url, blog title and your name
- Add comments and trackbacks that extend the conversation
- Remember what your Mama taught you .. thank people who have picked up on your conversation
- eMail a blogger
- Phone a blogger
- Skype a blogger
- Send an eCard - Heard it from Wayne Hurlbert, Blog Business World
- Send a card through the mail - Heard it from Kristie T, Kristie T's Home Business Blog
- Extend a discussion on your blog and link to the blogger/s who contributed
- Develop a habit of courtesy linking - acknowledging where ideas are from (see #7, #8, #11)
- Bring back the Blog Roll - Heard it from Jeneane Sussem, Allied
- Link generously
- Interview a blogger
Many thanks to Stephan Spencer, netconcepts and Stephan Spencer's Scatterings for the rock star intro he gave me to the interview about social media marketing that we did for netconcepts Cool Friends series.
In the interview I did with Geoff Livingston, Livingston Buzz, I also had the opportunity to talk about what I enjoy most .. the strategic execution of social media marketing.
14. Help out a friend with a little link love buzz
Kristen Osolind, re:invention, one of the first blogger who commented on a Diva Marketing post dropped a note about Microsoft's swell sweepstake, where the grand prize is 10 hours of private jet plane time. For any biz travel that is fantasy travelin!
15. Reach out to the new kid on the blogogphere block
Passing along the blog cheer .. a shout out to a new blogger, Sean O'Driscoll, who is writing about online communities at Community Group Therapy.
One more .. make it Sweet Sixteen Social Media Networking Idea
16. Send a little surprise gift to a blogger - Heard it from Jane Geneva, Writing Only
Update: After mashing (that's southern for hitting)the publish button I realized that some people may think I meant Pay For Post. I did not. These are little presents that speak of kindness and expressions of friendship. Jane sent me some lovely tea last winter. Tim gave me cool Masi espresso cups and from Ann Handley, for contributing to Daily Fix , a great Marketing Prof's mug.
I've given people 
Diva Marketing T-shirts. None left .. looking for a new creative saying ;-)
Thanks to Randy Moss for the photo of Stowe Boyd modeling the t-shirt.
