15 Social Media Maxims for Marketers

The most often asked questions from clients these days seem to be related in some way to social networking–from as basic as what is it to how can it help my business. I’ve excerpted an article that addresses the most common questions my clients have, and one question that I have wrestled with since starting to use social networking in my business, which is how much of ‘me’ should be exposed to my clients?

It started to seem that the ‘imaginary line’ I had been taught to keep between business and personal relationships was becoming blurred, and I wasn’t sure I was comfortable with that happening.
Social media has actually overtaken pornography as the number one online activity, and the fastest growing segment on Facebook is females age 55 to 65 that are trying to better connect with friends and family.
The Social Media market is moving almost too quickly to keep up with; but here are some tips that may help:

Successful marketers will be more like Dale Carnegie and less like David Ogilvy; listen first, sell second.

Consumers are looking to peers for recommendations on products, services, health issues, and more via social media. Only companies that produce products and services of great value will be part of these conversations; mediocrity will quickly be eliminated.

Social media’s ability to quickly disseminate information among friends and peers helps eliminate different people performing the same tasks (multiple individual redundancies), whether it’s researching the best vacation spot or smart phone. This results in a more efficient society.

The old adage that you can only have two of these — cheap, quick, or quality — doesn’t hold true within social media. It’s possible to have all three.

Successful social media marketers will function more like entertainment companies, publishers, or party planners rather than as traditional advertisers.

With the increasing popularity of e-books, there will be new digital media placement opportunities for brands. This is very similar to product placement in movies, only this is for books, and the placements are clickable and measurable.

The most successful social media and mobile applications are those that allow users to brag, compete, or look cool by passing it on.

The transparency and speed of information exchanged within social media mitigates casual schizophrenic behavior. Having a “work” personality and having a “party” personality will soon become extinct. People and companies will need to have one essence and be true to that essence.

Being “well-rounded” as a company or individual is less beneficial. It’s more productive to play to your core strength. This differentiates you from the competition.

Companies that produce great products and services rather than companies that simply rely on great messaging will be winners in a Socialnomic™ world. The social graph is the world’s largest and most powerful referral program.

Marketers’ jobs have changed from creating and pushing to one that requires listening, engaging, and reacting to potential and current customer needs.

Making multiple mistakes within social media is far better than doing nothing at all.

If you’re a large brand, you can rest assured that there are conversations, pages, and applications constantly being developed around your brand and by the community at large. The social community is “doing” social media even if your company chooses not to.

The information exchanged in social media in relation to job searching and recruiting has rendered it unrecognizable from the information exchanged 10 years ago. Appropriate matches between employer and employee have increased as a result of an increased information flow.

The overall achievement of individuals and companies will be largely dependent on their social media success.