9 social media do’s and don’ts to remember for your next campaign

An important rule that you should always be aware of when you are busy with a social media campaign is that it takes quite a lot of time and effort to get good results. As with most business strategies, success doesn’t happen overnight or with a simple push of a button. If it was as easy as that, everyone will have success on the social web.

It really takes a lot of effort to gain credibility online and that is why you should make sure that you follow the best methods with you campaign. For some, success on the social web will happen fast, and for others, a little bit longer, but this is completely normal as it all depends how your business relates to the audience you are trying to reach.

What are the best methods for social media marketing? Good question; and there are many answers, but find below a short summary of a couple of social media marketing do’s and don’ts that I believe will help you.

Social media do’s

With your social media campaign, make sure that every time you post a new update or tweet, it is relevant and interesting. Don’t update your status simply for the sake of posting content. Start posting content on the social web with a purpose. Don’t post anything that may be seen as offensive or derogatory. This is an easy way to lose respect and followers in a blink of an eye.

Be professional
It’s a little more complex than it sounds. You need to be inspirational, and the one stop go-to person for valuable information regarding your niche. You should also post with consistency as many people on the social web are constantly looking for new updates.

Be a real person
With your social media campaign, make sure to engage with the people you are trying to reach. An easy way to do this is to acknowledge comments, share other users’ content, and like and respond to their updates. It’s important that people know who you are and that you are not a robot.

Magnetic content
Make the content you share interesting by using magnetic headlines and content. This type of content is about drawing people in, like a magnet, so they will read your content. This will help to grab the attention of your target audience.

Know what’s happening right now
Do you know the latest news in your market? Stay up to date and make sure all of the content that you are sharing is current.

Social media marketing don’ts

Even though there is not a golden rule book to this new medium, there are couple of don’ts that I have seen many times.

Never be overly promotional
This is not the route to go with your campaign and is a sure way to lose followers fast. Never do a hard sell, buy this product from me now, or join this mailing list now. People really don’t like this, especially if they don’t really know who you are. A good rule you can use is to only publish one self-promotional status update or tweet for every nine non-promotional items.

Don’t tweet what you just ate
How many times on Twitter do you see tweets on absolute rubbish? Do you really think that the audience you are trying to reach cares what you ate 5 minutes ago? Think before you share an update and see how you can make everything that you share on the social web relevant to your business.

Don’t act like someone else
People will usually notice this soon because your updates will most likely not be the same. Be genuine and be yourself. Don’t say that you are the expert or guru in your field if you don’t understand it 100%. Don’t claim that you are millionaire when you are not. People like real people.

Don’t make your social media profiles a ghost town
Be consistent with your social media updates. Don’t make updates once a month. In most of the cases with social media, your audience is looking for information and updates. If you don’t care about the social media channels you are using, why should they care about you?

Don’t limit yourself
Don’t only use Twitter or your blog for your specific campaign. The only way you are going to reach new customers and followers is to use the social media channels that they are using and then analyse what channels are working the most effectively. An easy way to do this is to use many social media channels in the beginning and then later on you can narrow them down.