Great Post, Diana!! Developing a personality on social media networks is key.

well some what agreed with Cordelia! and the reason is experience! i still remember my early days when most of my social tactics get fail due to Inconsistent Posting and Updates. 
 
i think once you are in the planning phase of social media strategy you should consider the time you are giving to taht social media site like Twitter or Facebook fan page needs lots of time and real time interaction! let me repeat Real Time interaction (to the people who use automated tweets)

I agree more with all nine of these, especially number seven. We see clients do this all the time. They outsource content creation to interns, or sub-par freelancers who know next to nothing about their industry. So, the articles come back as a B- as best. That grade doesn't make for sticky content, and certainly doesn't help "thought leadership".  
 
It's my mission to help our clients understand the value in asking true experts to give time to developing rich content.

What about the Social Media police? The people that dont understand it and are not willing to move with the times.

The first point of being overly self-promotional is a topic I fight every day. Old school marketers believe that its a cheap/free way to sell stuff. While your social efforts should be helping increase sales, it shouldn't be "look at me, look at me." I've always been a believer that topics should be more consumer and follower oriented, not company oriented.

More good stuff, thank you! I keep hearing "people buy people" and of course, it's 100% true. Statistics and graphs are handy, but they lack the emotion of someone's personal insight. Social Media and Digital Marketing are great concepts but only the interesting aspects created by interesting people will stay around long term. Everyone prefers a website or blog with some faces on, right? People like to see who they're dealing with, it's human nature. Content has got to be beyond good; it needs a little heart and a little soul to give it life. (Humour doesn't hurt too much either!)

Great post! Totally agree on #9. My #10? Not listening enough...that's where you can get a lot of inspiration for content that people are looking for.

I could not agree MORE with # 1...Too many people are simply over self promoting or constantly pitching their affiliate programs. I find it is the biggest turnoff in social media interaction.

So many business owners are absolutely clueless about how to connect with social media - many of them feel overwhelmed about using social media sites.  
 
Just be yourself, and remember, if you want to delete something, there is always the "remove this" button.

Diana, This is so true.. an excellent post that I bookmarked and also posted to my social media sites. I see some things that will help our business. #1 is one that new people should learn quick.. I know we did :-) It is about people and interacting with them, that's is where the real stuff happens. Thanks again!

Love it - especially the great reminder about content. Your boogedy old website is not a tweetworthy link. Nor is your corporate video? Making something fun and interesting that your audience can relate to - emotionally - is key for sm success. Made to Stick by the Heath Brothers is a great read to inspire you to create sticky, juicy, tasty content that will be memorable and well worth sharing.

While I agree with #1, there is some tension there - these days, it seems like many people are using Twitter as an easy version of an RSS reader. They follow (or Like on Facebook) the sites they like so they can get all the latest updates in their feed, so in that case, it doesn't actually matter that it isn't being used socially. That said, I think you have to have some momentum behind your site and/or social media feeds before ignoring the social aspects - it only works well for big sites that people want to follow anyways, not smaller sites that are still trying to build a following.

This is a list that every digital marketing professional should keep handy as use from time to time as a litmus test. Great post.

This is such a great post Diana! It's very informative and absolutely usable. Thanks for the insights.

Hubspot posts are the best, always informative and right on the mark. I believe that most people expect faster results from social media than they get, so they give up and call it a time waster. Obviously, there are masterful gurus out there who do it 24/7 and know that it pays off when you do it right...interacting with your customer and not just making declarations.

Are you finding that companies are creating 'social media marketing" positions within their organization? For the exact reasons you stated 
 
about needing an expert to be communicating. If a company does have to outsource this function, what do you think the agency needs to do to 
 
provide quality content? 
 
 
 
 
 

This is a great overview list, with the possible exception of #7. While I agree that those inside the company are best to provide the content, the stark truth of the matter is many companies don't have the time, the manpower or just do a pretty lousy job at it. It's the content provider's obligation to get to know the client's business and to monitor topics that apply to that business. For those strapped for resources, I think the best bet is to combine outside management and posting with posts of their own. That way, you get the best of both worlds. You can maintain the right tempo and still offer direct insight. 
 
If I had to add a #10, I'd say it's not giving credit where credit is due, such as copying someone else's Tweet instead of retweeting it (or putting up a Facebook post as your own instead of sharing a link) and giving credit. Doing so results in mentions and will get you more followers in the long run and you foster a better sense of sharing and community.

Great article -- I would add one thing to this: people often do not tie their measurement tools together into a system that allows them to draw meaningful conclusions from their marketing campaigns. 
 
For example, marketers need to tie their Google Analytics data to their Twitter data to their salesforce.com data, and they should have a system that can accept other data streams as well. This way you can quickly spot activities that move the needle...My firm is conducting a webinar today 2PM on this topic. You can signup by following the link to my company's blog and viewing the latest post.

I think #1 is extremely important. I read a post yesterday that said about 80% of your content should be helping your audience. We try to do a mix of fun posts, industry news, and give helpful tips rather than just tweet and blog about our products all day. People respond better when you aren’t overly self-promotional.

We began using Facebook on our home page at the beginning of 2010. I believe having FB followers on the home page resulted in most of our growth in maintenance work (197 new maint customers to date for 2010) Not bad for a "down economy". It created a sense of being "personable". The tips in this article will help me to focus my efforts for this coming year. Thanks!

I always love to see funny content. It inspires me to create my own content. It is interesting to see how many people post boring promotional information with nothing else. At the very minimum, RT and thank others on Twitter. Why would I buy your product without even knowing who you are?

Thanks for all your great comments and #10's everyone! :-)

Great, great, great post. I'm just getting myself out there in the whole social media scene, and I not only enjoyed reading this, but appreciated the strong advice.

#9 - You're not having fun is so true for many of my clients! There are so many business people that think of Facebook and Twitter as a chore instead of a fun way to interact and be social during the workday. This point is a good reminder for me to pass on to them.

Excellent post and tips, Diana. The two way conversation is vital when trying to build relationships. Many good talkers, but how many are great listeners?

I so agree with this blog post, especially the outsourcing. In my field of chiropractic, there are so many companies that are crooks that sell services to do your blogging and social media yet they do all the same posts for every doctor that hires them. This type of spamming of social media hurts, not helps.

Spot on! 
This blog post gives some wonderful tips for sm, which i shall incorporate in my website www.eduexcellence.org  
Good work Diana!