Effective Link Building Service: Let's Get Social: 12 Social Media New Year's Resolutions For 2010

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12 Social Media New Years Resolutions For 2010
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by Greg Finn
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Since 2010 is right around the corner, I wanted to get a bit
proactive on our New Year�s resolutions, and do it social media style.
There are so many issues in the social realm that this list could be
endless, but I chose the 12 most important items to work on in social
media in 2010. As you may know, there is no right answer in social
media; each company is different, but each of these points can be
adjusted for any company. Hopefully this will work as a guide on how
to create a better social media presence in 2010!

Spend more traditional ad budget on customer service
So many problems could be proactively averted if companies would
simply treat customers as they should. In today�s social realm, word
of mouth travels far and above the vintage physical conversation, and
can truly influence users across the globe. By supplementing your
products with excellent support and a pleasant experience, you will
create brand advocates that will help, rather than hurt you. Imagine
if United had cut back on a few TV commercials and actually helped
their customers out <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo>
. This seems like a no-brainer, but it is amazing to see the sheer
number of companies that continue to treat their customers poorly,
then try to fix by spending more dollars on advertising. In a McKinsey
report,�67% of consumer sales are directly influenced by WOM
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=3&ved=0CBIQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mckinsey.com%2Fpractices%2Fmarketing%2Fourknowledge%2Fpdf%2Fsolutions_mktgspendeffhowtowinincomplex.pdf&ei=S2IcS8ChC9K2lAer2enxCQ&usg=AFQjCNE-xWq9N9hvfz1APNyjaZwf8Rqpv>
(PDF), and the best form of reputation management is not needing to
manage your reputation at all. Treat your customers properly, and you
will see the results in social media and your bottom line.

Create sound company social media strategies & social media policies
The problem with most companies is that there is a lack of social
media strategy and they are engaging because they think they have to.
Sit down and put together a list of goals then work to find a strategy
that will work to accomplish them. Don�t just Tweet because you saw it
on CNN, don�t make a Facebook page because your competitor did.� Come
up with a list of goals and a strategy to achieve them. Tactics and
strategies are crucial in social media, as Sun Tzu eloquently stated:
�Strategy�without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics
without�strategy�is the noise before defeat.�

Train & educate workers
Recently, there have been some social media meltdowns based on the
lack of knowledge of some individuals acting on behalf of a company.�
Policies should be set forth to ensure that workers are not breaking
terms of use, acting inappropriately, providing inaccurate information
or a handful of other impending dilemmas. In addition, anyone who is
allowed to speak on behalf of the company should have extreme
comprehension of the networks, how they work and the overall company
strategy. When executed poorly, social media has the power to severely
harm a brand, and education is the fundamental factor that can prevent
these problems.

Make a better effort to track mentions
One of the toughest aspects of Social Media Marketing is tracking the
conversations that are occurring �in-the-wild.� Research and find a
solution that will help you and your company achieve your social media
goals. There are a number of good tracking systems on the market, the
trick is to test drive them and see what will work for you.� In
addition to tracking mentions, tracking broad keywords and engaging
customer who are looking for help can be a very profitable portion of
your social media marketing campaign. When looking for tools, those
that allow the archiving and exportation of data is something that can
be a big help as you make your internal cause for social media.

Be proactive, protect your brand names
If you have a trademarked term, you can almost always stop name
squatters from hijacking your brand name, but why wait for that to
happen? Services like KnowEm <http://knowem.com/>
allow you to reserve usernames across hundreds of sites and prevent
those from stealing your brand. Taking a few minutes and a few dollars
now can save you a lot of time and money to get it back later, so get
out there and protect your brand.

Take the time to look your best
Use your social media profiles as extensions of your brand and of
your website. Take the time to make custom backgrounds for Twitter
<http://www.10e20.com/blog/2009/08/18/4-ways-to-optimize-your-twitter-background/>
or create rich Facebook tabs
<../../../../../../how-to-quickly-customize-your-facebook-page-to-attract-more-fans-29216>
that support your current marketing initiatives. Just because your
profile isn�t on your site, doesn�t mean that you shouldn�t spend
money trying to make it look good.

Really promote your social profiles off-site
Many times, simply slapping a social media badge in your footer is
simply not enough. Analyze options on how you can leverage real estate
on your site to accomplish your social goals. Whether it be a Digg
Widget <http://digg.com/add-digg>
in your sidebar to help promote some upcoming stories on your site
to Facebook Fan Boxes
<http://www.facebook.com/facebook-widgets/fanbox.php>
along with calls to action on a post-conversion Thank You Page there
are plenty of tactics that could make sense for your company.

Advertise your social profiles
One of the hardest things to justify in Internet marketing is
spending money without sending visitors to your website. Much like
investing in design and development for social profiles, you should be
securing budget for advertising on social media sites as well. For
example, advertising Facebook pages
<http://www.facebook.com/advertising/?pages>
is a quick and easy way to let targeted users know that you are
participating in the conversation. While you may be able to leverage
your site to gain some loyal fans/followers (see above), spending
money for exposure to targeted audiences could be much more profitable
in the long run.

Give people a reason to join in
�If you build it, they will come� doesn�t work in social media, or
online in general. You should give users a reason to follow you and
become a fan. Whether it is sweepstakes, breaking news, giveaways,
sales or company updates, you should offer users something beneficial
in exchange for their loyalty.

Reward loyal fans with exclusives
By offering fans items that are exclusive to the social audience, you
can �demonstrate value� and make them feel good about following you.
Not only would they get an exclusive deal/song/download/game, they
also get the feeling that they are getting a special connection that
not everyone has.

Explore more outlets
While Twitter and Facebook are making the biggest splash on the news
scene, there are hundreds more social sites out there many of which
can help you achieve company goals. Look into other social media
outlets that you may not be currently engaged in. From social news
sites like Digg
<http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/11/the-history-and-controversies-of-digg-com/>
to social bookmarking sites like the new StumbleUpon
<http://www.brentcsutoras.com/2009/10/13/stumbleupon-v4-content-social/>
to smaller niche social media sites, there are many outlets that
could work for you, �so give �em a try!

Don�t neglect your site
While all of the above points speak mainly of tactics that work off
of your site, one of the biggest things to remember is that you can be
social on your site. Things like blogs and forums were the original
social media, so make sure to maintain and cultivate them and create
good content that will perform well
<http://www.brentcsutoras.com/2009/12/01/7-tips-creating-kick-ass-social-media-linkbaits/>
in social media. At the end of the day, your site is your ultimate
sales tool, so take care of it!� Where applicable try to bring social
media in with things like Facebook Connect
<http://developers.facebook.com/connect.php>
or Digg <http://apidoc.digg.com/>
or Twitter�s API <http://apiwiki.twitter.com/>
to harness the benefits of these sites on your own.
And that�s it! Try to work on these resolutions in 2010 and watch
your social presence flourish. Have any other resolutions you�d like
to add? Drop a comment below. Happy Holidays!

Opinions expressed in the article are those of the author, and not
necessarily Search Engine Land.

Greg Finn <http://searchengineland.com/author/greg-finn/>

is the Director of Internet Marketing for 10e20, a publicity company
that specializes in social media and search marketing services. He has
been in the Internet marketing industry for over 5 years and
specializes in Social Media Marketing.� He writes in-depth about
social media and internet marketing on the 10e20 blog
<http://www.10e20.com/blog>
.

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Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Let's Get Social: 12 Social Media New Year's Resolutions For 2010

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