We don’t try to be clever. We just are. 24/7.
So already, we’re following Rules #6 and #7 from Fast Company’s infographic of 36 Rules of Social Media. In colorful clarity, it features dozens of must-have tips for social media success, like: “Make traditional media and social work together,” “Update your page or delete it,” and, the bottom line, “It’s an organism, not a process.”
These 36 tips, in a few seconds, can point out gaps in your social media strategy and point you toward effective community-building. And they got us thinking about our bottom line must-haves for success on social media.
Our list of Social Media Rules would probably start something like this:
- Begin with a purpose.
- Have an authentic personality – and don’t be afraid to show it.
- Don’t sell a product; solve a problem.
- Never stop listening.
- Make yourself relevant to the conversation.
- To get engagement, you must be engaging.
- Tell a story – and then illustrate it.
- Give everything a life of its own, but legs to leverage other living things.
- Measure the right things.
- Be 2 steps ahead – or dead.
In fact, if you weren’t paying attention, you might confuse this list for marketing tips on any other channel. For some reason, people tend to forget the common sense basics when they login to social networks, mistaking a profile for a soapbox and microphone. You are not a catalog anymore, and there’s more to the conversation than just “Buy!”
For brands that market themselves with savvy, it’s still all about helping your audience fill a need with what you offer. And you won’t build an audience – let alone drive them to action – if you’re boring, aimless, pushy, single-minded, slow, or disconnected.
But when you’re purposeful, passionate, helpful, relevant, and incessantly bent on finding ways to insert yourself and add value to the conversation, you understand social media.