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We're Friends on the Internet: Meghan's Top Ten Social Media Marketing Tips

Social media marketing is a great way to reach out to potential customers and clients. It involves using services such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, and many other community-based websites to raise awareness about your company. The tools offered by these sites have become incredibly powerful, allowing you to interact with clients and learn about current and potential markets.

The key to understanding this type of marketing is to remember the word 'social'. Here are some obvious (but often overlooked) things to keep in mind if you have decided to use social media marketing to promote yourself.

1) You should BLOG about that
There are about 12 billion things on the Internet more interesting than what you had for dinner. Pick topics that are entertaining and meaningful to your audience. Keep your commentary short and provide helpful links. Unless you're a critic or a sports columnist, keep biting commentary out of your writing.

2) Use pictures instead of words
Pictures are fun to look at, and fun to share. Also, it only takes a few seconds (while your boss isn't looking, for instance) to send a fun or interesting picture to ten of your friends. There is a reason sites like are icanhazcheezeburger and vice are popular. The formula is fun, cute, and accessible.

3) It's not a popularity contest
Every social media marketing site has unique tools to encourage community and collaboration. These tools make it easier to market yourself to a relevant demographic, and they can help you find willing collaborators with complimentary skills, services and products.

Just some examples:
Facebook: Tag Friends in Your Status and Posts
Mashable: How To Get The Most Out Of Twitter Hashtags

4) Connect on a personal level
Think about the kind of audience you want to attract. If they are psychology students, find an energetic psychology student to run your Facebook page. If you're trying to appeal to middle-aged housewives, set up a survey contest that will appeal to them. Offer people a reason to create a personal dialogue with you and your company, personally.

5) Engage your audience by becoming an authority
Discussion boards and forums are great ways to build a personal connection. Are you an expert at something? Does your company provide a unique service? Try offering advice (with a link back to your website) on one of the millions of forums available online. Being helpful is a really good way to make friends, and it's an excellent way to gain respect and recognition within your industry.

6) Share Implement sharing tools.
Share your Vimeo videos on Facebook. Share your blog stories on Digg. Connect what you are doing on the Internet with everything else you're doing on the Internet. This makes it easy for people to find you, no matter which online social circle they're in.

7) Don't let things stagnate
Don't set up a page with bare-bones information and let it sit empty for two years. This is the worst kind of Internet presence, and makes a worse impression than no Internet presence at all.

8) Brand yourself consistently
Every social media website has its own rules and its own structure for content, but it is still possible to create a consistent brand across all of the sites. Start with a simple, versatile logo and work from there. Look up tips online if you aren't sure about the design limitations of a site.

9) Make friends with people you think are better than you
The coolest thing about social media marketing is the ability to connect with people and companies who inspire you. This is how you will get better. You will not get better by ignoring your rivals, pretending they don't exist, or badmouthing them on the Internet.

10) Respect your audience
One of the most common mistakes I see when I research social media marketing is a tendency towards humourless self-aggrandizing. Try to be helpful, humble, and grateful for your audience. Show a sense of humour. Stay accessible. If people like you they are far more likely to give you their business.

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