[ad#468x60]Social Media isn’t as hard as people make it to be and then again it isn’t as easy either. Its one of those things that can either be utilized or manipulated. Most bloggers and businesses do not utilize the power of social media to their benefit. They actually manipulate it to the point where it doesn’t do them any good. of course at first it might generate a spike of traffic to their blog/site and might shoot their revenue up a little high but in the long run its not manipulation that works. Remember abuse isn’t something that is tolerated by anyone and same goes to true when it comes to community. It only takes so long before people realize that you are not utilizing but manipulating a system.
If you look at the image above, the top half you will see four critical elements that defines Social Media. Without applying these four elements social media is nothing but a waste of time both for you and for the community itself. Whatever platform you decide and for whatever reason you decide to use social media, these four elements are critical.
- Active participation is necessary
- If you aren’t providing value to the community that you belong to, you lose your voice
- Social Media is built on helping each other out. Lend a helping hand first and then receive in return
- Remember the golden rule of social media – community comes first.
The first half applies to social media in general. The second half however is more concentrated towards what you want to achieve from being part of a community. The four elements in the second half of the image will help you get the most out from a social media campaign.
- Not all social media platforms serve the same purpose. Research before you choose a platform to be active on.
- Whatever platform you choose, make sure you show interest and generate interest from other community members
- Do not forget the humanization in social media. Be yourself and participate as an individual and not as a marketing guy who keeps throwing product information and links
- Create a presence. If you follow the top half of the image and the first three shown on the second half, in no time you will have a killer presence on social media.
Social media isn’t hard. It is just misunderstood and poor results from social media is nothing but poor execution.[ad#336x280]
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Very interesting image, I’ll keep that in mind.
I have tried several of the big social media sites, and I haven’t really found a way to use them to drive traffic to my blog. The ones that drives the most traffic are StumbleUpon and BlogCatalog, but I guess I am just lucky.
I haven’t had a strategy, and I am still figuring out what I should be doing. I try to add value to the community, but I don’t have much time. That’s why, when I first add something (because I don’t add much), I need it to be something amazing. And that’s difficult.
- jens -
@Jens Yup add value and you will receive value back from the community. Also do not always look at spikes of traffic but long term growth. If you become a valuable member of the community the community will give back. That is the cornerstone of being successful on social media – adding value and becoming helpful