7 Highly Effective Social Media Marketing Habits
What differentiates the highly effective social media marketer from one who’s just mediocre? And what does “highly effective” even mean?
The highly effective social media marketer is one who meets her goals without wasted effort. She engages customers, colleagues, fans and followers without spending lots of time or money to do so. She uses her resources intelligently, is authentic and real, takes risks and adapts to feedback and new innovations.
Habit #1: Be Honest and Have Integrity
We’re moving into an era where you must be honest and have integrity if you want to retain customers and keep a good reputation. Word of mouth travels faster than ever via the Internet, and if you’re less than forthright with your customers, you’ll develop a tarnished reputation rather quickly. Certainly there’s a fine line between indulging in a few black hat practices and all-out trickery, but the social media marketers I know who have the largest followings and the best reputations have them because they exude honesty and integrity. Not only do they simply demonstrate excellence of character that draws people to them, but they also don’t have to spend their time cleaning up bad reviews or defamatory press about themselves or their businesses on the Internet.
Habit #2: Share Your Knowledge with Others
The best social media marketers I know also give of themselves freely, sharing their knowledge with others by giving free talks and lectures and mentoring other entrepreneurs. Again, this kind of behavior attracts others because it demonstrates good character. Additionally, I’ve seen many successful social media marketers gain new clients as a result of giving an information talk or after sharing some of their wisdom simply out of their desire to help a fellow entrepreneur become more successful.
Habit #3: Work Smarter, Not Harder
The most successful people in any field have learned how to work intelligently rather than working 16-hour days or 80-hour weeks. Working that hard isn’t effective because it’s not sustainable long-term. While you may be able to put out hundreds of posts, gain a lot of followers and create a ton of content by working that much, you’d be better served to find ways to do more in less time. One easy way is getting into the following habit:
Habit #4: Use an RSS Feed
For those of you who don’t already use an RSS feed, the term may sound technical and scary. Rest assured, it’s one of the simplest things you can do to make your life as a social media marketer easier. RSS stands for rich site summary, but you don’t need to know what it stands for in order to reap benefits from using an RSS feed. Essentially what RSS does is allow you to receive daily news and posts right in your email inbox from any sites you select. Just about every major Internet news site as well as a great number of personal and business blogs have an RSS option available right on their main landing page, and RSS reading software is widely distributed for free. Getting daily news from major media outlets and fresh blog posts delivered to your inbox gives you an excellent source of free high-quality content that you can re-post for your fans and followers without having to spend time searching for it.
Habit #5: Be Adaptable
The best marketers I know adapt to changing situations and pay attention to the feedback and comments provided by their customers, fans and followers. And the worst ones don’t adapt, and post daily or even multiple times a day without paying any attention to what’s being said in the comments. Adaptation is key when algorithms change regularly and highly optimized and profitable sites can become de-optimized and no longer profitable overnight. Additionally, not only does interacting with customers and fans via comments keep them more engaged, but you may also be able to find out what effect posts have on customers. If you’re getting feedback that tells you your posts or comments aren’t having the effect you want them to have, change your tactics. And, have the following strategy:
Habit #6: Don’t Be Afraid To Take Risks
The most successful social media marketing guru I’ve met advises everyone to spark a little controversy in their posts now and then. While you don’t want to take things to the extreme and offend half your customers, engaging people in debate or encouraging commenters to debate among themselves brings life to your posts. It’s far better to have a hot debate going over one of your posts than to have no comments at all. Lots of comments usually means lots of traffic, while no comments clearly signifies the opposite.
Habit #7: Have a Real Face
Customers and fans are more likely to engage with your postings, like your fan page or follow you if you show some of your real personality. If you have pictures of yourself that show you living real life as opposed to wearing a suit and tie, that’s even better. Again, use good judgment about what’s appropriate for business. A lot of companies that promote themselves through social media sites don’t have a human face attached to their fan page or postings, which can make customers less likely to feel connected to or invested in the business.
About Daniel Tan
