7 Step Secret Sauce Recipe For Social Media Success
04/03/2013
He: I need more traffic to my blog, more followers to my Twitter account and more likes on my Facebook.
Me: So I told him the 7 Step Secret Sauce Recipe For Social Media Success. In all candour, it's nothing new but as a reminder I thought I'd pass along.
1. The End Game - Start with the end game in mind .. or as marketers might say -- your goals.
What do you want to achieve? What is success to you? Is it gaining a new audience or repositioning your brand with current customers? Is it building stronger relationships with your employees?
2. Know Your Audience - The more you understand the profile of your audience the better you'll be able to put into play steps #3, #4, #5. Building a personae of people you want to reach helps to go beyond traditional demographics to including digital/social behaviors.
3. Selfless Content - Posts that take the needs of your community into consideration and are aligned with the values of your brand/company.
Mantra to repeat before hitting the publish key:
It's not about me it's about you.
4. Focused Content Direction - Choose a topic that is big enough to give you some flexibity but narrow enough to carve out a niche that sets you apart in the cluttered social media space. Helps if you are passionate or have a high interest in the topic .. to help you sustain over time.
5. Consistency Over Time/Social Platforms - To be The "go to diva or divo" - post several times a day about trends, hard to find information, hot tips, industry news.
To position yourself as a "thought leader" consider weekly posts using platforms that offer longer formats than Twitter and can be deep linked e.g. blogs, YouTube/Vimeo (video), SlideShare. Content ideas: opinons on industry trends, current issues, interviews with leading experts.
If you're focused on innovation or a start-up it might mean you become active on the latest shiny toy. Yes, there are times when jumping into the the new is a valid strategy.
6. Community Generosity - Identify your peers, influencers and greatest fans. Join the conversatons where they hangout. Contribute to the discussion with your ideas, links, opinions. Rarely does that mean pitch your product.
If you're in a more conservative world or your end game is to sustain your current positioning, it might mean the tried and true blogs, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, etc.
Keep in mind that you do not and never will "own" any social network e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, FourSquare, g+, etc. You are a renter abiding by the rules (terms of service) that can and are changed at the discretion of the network.
The only social media properties you have control over are the blogs, communities, sites you build and host yourself.
6. Resources - Much as we might like to think that the digital world is a free for all .. if you're using social media as a business strategy keep in mind there is a cost. The price you pay is in time, human capital and yes, hard earned dollars too.
Determining how your resources will be allocated will save you a few sleepless nights.
7. Determine Results - Is it working? How will you know (refer to #1)if your end game is met? Think about the metrics that will provide you the greatest insight. Hint: Likes are probably not the best indicator.
There are at least 27 billion tools (well .. that might be a slight exaggeartion but perhaps not!) to help you track, measure and analyze. Some are free while others can run you some major bucks.
A Few Resources - Tools
Twitonomy - a new fav for Twitter analysis
Curated from Social Media Examiner - 29 Tools
Curated from What's Next Blog - 6 Shiny New Objects You Can Use
He: If it's that easy why the big deal?
Me: Right, this stuff is really not as difficult as say finding the perfect jeans. (Girlfriend, now he began to look puzzled .. but you know what I mean.) But there is one more step that I forgot to mention.
The spice that kicks it up a notch ...pulls it together .. it's the person who builds and implements and ensures that outcomes are met within two cultures -- that of your brand and social web.
The skill set and experience that should be brought to the party grows more sophisticated and complex as social media becomes integrated into a business' DNA.
Social Media Manager Skill Set
Business experience, marketing experince, strategy understand and in the weeds tactics, great verbal and written communication, knows how to write for the web, problem solving, analytic skills, expeience in web analytics, understands the concept of digital conversation, continuous learner, generously shares, team player with people of diverse backgrounds, comfortable moving between online and offline environments, creative approach to the mundane and the unexpected, ability to work in a constantly moving world, likes helping people, customer first orientation, understands the concept of selfless content, content curation and creation, importance of multiple devices, understands digital behavior and building community.
Add to that the working knowlede of mulitple social networks, blogs, the concept of authenticity, transparancy, honesty.
Include an understanding of your brand value and promise and how content and conversations must align but not message or sell within the social web.
Oh yes .. throw in a little passion for social media and the brand and having fun.
I think that will do it.
Post inspired by Amber Kapish and David Munk, Stargayzing.
Graphic credit Zazzle
