In the realm of social media marketing there are certain things you absolutely must do. You can’t get away with cutting corners and leaving anything out. Kind of like breathing… you have to do it. If you don’t, you die.

Social media marketing is, of course, more important than breathing.

Seriously, in today’s online marketing world, if you are not utilizing the powerful medium that is social media you are on life support until someone decides to pull the plug. With that in mind, there are a few things, well… ten things, that you absolutely, positively must do.

Social Media "Do’s"

1.) Be real. You don’t have to try and be someone that you’re not. You are into social media to grow your network, meet interesting people, and be involved. So, you don’t have to try and hide behind a great than life persona. Whatever you share make sure it’s you and from your heart.

2.) Be involved. It really doesn’t do any good to market your website if you just create an account and put up a quick profile at each social marketing website. You must be actively engaged with the people you are following or friending. This is something I have learned the hard way.

I made the mistake of believing that an account at Ping.fm would help me update all my social media websites. What it did was actually alienate me and put up a wall. I have been working to tear down that wall and become more active on each of the websites. You should learn from my mistake. Don’t try to automate everything. Be involved and active with each of the sites, and each of your friends.

3.) Have a plan for your social activity. There is no way you will be able to keep track of all your social networking and activity if you do not have a social plan. Let me repeat that…. there is no way you will EVER be able to keep track of all your social networking and activity if you do not have a social plan. I can not emphasize that enough.

4.) Have fun with it! I love social media. I think it’s absolutely amazing. However, I don’t think I would like it so much if it felt too much like work. Yes, I have a schedule to make sure that tasks get completed, but I have fun doing it. It’s fun to reply on Twitter. It’s fun to write on someone’s wall and encourage them. It’s fun to update with funny little posts. I don’t want social media to begin feeling like a job.

A lot of people are just plain boring. They don’t add any applications to their Facebook account, only have an account at Twitter disregarding any other micro blog sites, and unfollow people at the drop of a hat. That’s too restricting. Open up a little and have some fun.

5.) Interlink as much as possible. Great you have a Facebook account. Now you can add the Twitter application which connects the two and updates Facebook automatically when you post to Twitter. That’s what I call interlinking. Think of it as a wheel with a bunch of different spokes. Each one is connected to the middle hub, but are a little different in their own right. Choose a main hub. Could be our blog or a social network like Facebook. Then start interlinking… connecting each one together with the main hub, and each other, as much as you can.

6.) Take advantage of third party applications to help you save time. Yes, it takes a lot of time to keep up with each social network and update consistently. Even monitoring each one, even with a FriendFeed account, can take up time. That’s where the abundance of third party applications come in handy. Most are built using Adobe AIR and can be used right from your desktop.
Applications like Twhirl, Tweetdeck, and Facedesk are great ways to keep things updated without actually visiting each site.

7.) Remember that you’re dealing with people and not robots. When writing articles and website content you can get away with using a keyword a few times at the beginning, middle, and end to help with search engine rankings. People know that and when they read and article, or visit your website, they tend to accept it. However, don’t think that will work on your social networks. Treat people like what they are…. real people. They are not robots, but actual people who could be interested in what you have to offer.

8.) Give More Than You Receive. One of the biggest temptations of social networking is to put things on autopilot and just update with blog posts, new ezine issues, latest affiliate product, or newest service. Really, we’re only doing what we’ve been trained to do. For years the cry has been “automation, automation, automation!”, while you go about doing other things. Social media should never be automatic.

With that in mind, one of the things to remember is to always be looking for ways that you can *give* as opposed to receiving. Try to give answers to questions, links to relevant websites (not your own), solutions to problems, encouragement and praise, and perhaps even mentions of what other people are doing, and connecting others together. Doing this shows that you’re not just there to “get”. You’re there to be a functional part of the community.

9.) Do unto others as you would have done unto you. I have a personal policy that when someone follows me at any of the different social networking websites I will also follow them. It really doesn’t matter if I know them or not. I still follow.

This is a personal preference, but I do feel it’s very important to your overall marketing efforts. There are those that don’t feel its necessary to follow everyone and attribute it to some reason or another. However, I think they are missing out. The opportunities that are lost by not following people is tremendous. Each new person means a new idea, a possible partner, a possible new client.

Now, there is another side to this also. When you follow, or friend, someone you would like them to also respond in kind. After all, how can you build a community if everything is all one sided?

10.) Be consistent. I have to admit that this one has been my problem as of late. Life has a way of getting in the way and, even though we have the best intentions, some things have to give way. However, it doesn’t make being consistent any less important.

Staying consistent is the only way that you will be able to keep your name, your brand, your website in front of the people who decided to follow you, or friend you, in the first place. Staying consistent isn’t one dimensional either. There are many facets to consistency in your social marketing.

Consistency in your participation. Don’t just be a drive by networker.

Consistency in your profile. Be the same person so people don’t get confused about who you are.

Consistency in your avatar. If you have a different avatar, or profile pic, for each network you will also confuse people as to who you are.

Consistency in sharing. Always be thinking about what you can offer the community in each network you’re participating in.

Social Media Is More Than A To Do List

What I hope you’ve been able to see through this list of “Do’s” is that marketing with social media is more than just a long list of to-do items. It’s about your interaction within your social media circles.

When you enter into social marketing with the mindset that if you do this and that then you’re going to see amazing results, you’ll see a much different picture unfold. However, when you are a real person, who gives more, and interacts on a consistent basis you’ll see increased traffic and loyal customers.

Give these “do’s” a try. Let me know how things are progressing.

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