The rapidly-rising popularity of social networks have changed the rules of customer interaction.
Using social networks effectively requires some basic knowledge and a framework that will keep things running smoothly.
Some basic rules to consider include:
1. If you are the webmaster, then be careful to keep discussion open and limit censorship.
Of course, this does not mean that you should allow or entertain offensive, inappropriate, obscene, or excessively negative comments.
Moderation is often required, though use it sparingly if you want an honest communication with and among your audience.
2. If you are a user, then know the rules of the particular social network you are participating in.
Know how to submit your posts properly.
3. Use a picture with your profile that�s visible when you post.
This makes it more personal, and more likely that you will get responses from other users.
Being recognized in other forums will get you some traffic to your site, too.
4. Use the network feature to your advantage.
Search for people who list similar interests or business types, get them on board as one of your contacts or friends.
5. Don�t get banned from a site because you are too off-topic.
Keep your posts relevant to the thread or start a new one for others to respond to.
6. Don�t spam the social media site.
Offer good content, and this will get visitors to then visit your site and see what you�re all about.
People want to read useful information, if yours is good then it will get you noticed in a good way.
If you post garbage, then nobody will bother clicking through and visiting your site.
7. Be careful to not submit the same post to every single site that you are a member of.
Be aware that there are plenty of people just like you, that belong to all of the most popular social media sites, and they will be likely to notice that you have posted the same content to 20 different sites.
Changing things up a bit, even a small amount, makes a difference.
8.Remember that the other users are individuals, just like you.
Everyone has an opinion, and everyone wants to be important and be heard.
Avoiding overtly negative interactions and comments makes the site better and a more effective way to interact.
If you need to be critical, try to do it in a constructive way that does not end up doing more harm than good.
It�s nearly impossible for you to avoid social media sites if you are involved in any Internet activities these days.
Being aware of and respectful of how these sites run and what they can accomplish for you will get you farther in the long run.
Consider these guidelines as a basic starting point for your future success with social media sites.
Share your tips for using social media networks to your advantage!
As any good social marketing maven knows, Youtube works! Here are my 3 favorite Youtube marketing tips that will boost your traffic and back links into the stratosphere.
Submit Multiple Formats
After you have capped off that great screen capture tutorial or that “talking in my webcam” marketing piece, be sure to save it in multiple formats and sizes.
This advice comes straight from the video syndication gurus at Traffic Geyser (which was recently given a massive overhaul by the way).
Each video service accepts multliple formats and sizes.. take advantage of this!
Save the file as an .flv an .avi and a .mov. If your vid is really compelling, save it in 2 different sizes, in each format and bam… you have 6 videos to syndicate; all with unique tags and descriptions.
The only downside is that this requires some preparation and organization. I attached the “quick and dirty” form I fill out right before syndicating with Traffic Geyser (see below).
Use Titles and Tags Similar to Super Popular Videos
I can’t remember where I heard this but it works…
You know how Youtube suggests a video after you’ve just finished watching one?
Well, how do you think that “up next” video is selected. Yes… the Title and Tags.
So, just browse for a few minutes and find a video getting lots of views by your audience. Then use the same tags and a similar title when uploading your video. Youtube will then kindly plug you in right after that popular video.
This piggyback method works great and keep in mind you don’t have to find a popular video similar to yours, just one that is popular with your demographic or niche.
Finding Hot Communities in your Niche
You may have heard this one, it comes from a big time guru, Stephen Pierce. I have to do loads of research for my social marketing clients and this has helped me waste less time in “dead” communities. It is essentially making use of the “Links” choice below each video.
Once you click on the # of Links it opens the little window you see above. What you see there is a list of sites that have linked to that particular video. Youtube keeps track of the number of times that site has displayed that video to its readers. This particular video has been seen 3581 at withleather.com. I’d say that’s a hot community.
If you have some web 2.0 marketing tips to share, please do so below. We all need as much help as possible !
In our recent post on social marketing buzz groups I recommended these groups as a valuable way to get some attention (links and readers) to your blog.
There is actually an even better reason, here’s the story.
As I was doing my morning “buzz group” routine, I came across a podcast from Robert Greenshields at MindPowerMarketing.com. He is a fellow buzz group member, and, per normal, I checked his content to see if I wanted to vote.
Wow!
He had put together a brilliantly concise audio pertaining to goal achievement that I Stumbled, Dugg and Sphunn!
I realized that I would have never come across Robert and his insights had I not been in this particular buzz group and wanted to connect with Robert even further. So, armed with our mutual membership to the buzz group, I sent Robert a request for an interview. He graciously agreed and the rest, as they say, “is a podcast”. (I know… they don’t really say that.)
Listen in as Robert breaks down the 7 steps to achieving your wildest dreams for success in social marketing. Once you understand his simple “system”, you can sit down for 5 minutes, create an inspired goal statement and be guaranteed to produce 2-3x more of what you want.
PS: I was actually impressed with the audio quality we got out of Skype on this interview. I live in Indianapolis, IN and Robert lives in Spain (despite the Scottish accent), so factoring in the distance and both of us on wireless connections, Skype behaved quite nicely.
Although this amazing site is still in private beta, its worth a look. Aviary is a truly intriguing and comprehensive suite of online media editing apps.
These tools are based right in your browser (or as downloadable AIR applications) and all “relate” to each other.
To illustrate, Aviary provides this example:
“You can import a swatch from Toucan into Phoenix, while doing complex bitmap processing of a 3D object developed in Hummingbird. Finally, you can take your finished artwork and lay it out in Owl as the DVD artwork for a music CD you and your friends put together in Roc and Myna and offer it for sale in our marketplace, Hawk.”
Why Should Social Marketers & Probloggers Care?
Probloggers are always looking for a way to spice up ye old blog post. After all, you are a publisher, right?
Skypeing the graphic designer and ordering images, buttons and banners is time consuming (not to mention expensive Aviary is intuitive enough to make image editing quick & easy enough that you can do it yourself.
A peek at the interface for the image editing console dubbed Pheonix
After a while you may get good enough to do something like this…
A Word To The Wise
One thing is for sure. Apps like those included in the Aviary suite serve to improve the quality and content offered up by serious bloggers and web developers.
The bar is getting higher everyday for social marketers and probloggers hoping to increase readership & subscriber numbers.
So, unless you have an angel investor funding your blog, its time to get familiar with web tools that make keeping up easier.
Many aspiring social marketers are surprised when they stumble into a community of IMers who are secretly buzzing (promoting) each others content.
The Secret
These covert little communities are simple vote sharing networks and generally work like this:
Each member is allowed to submit a predefined number of URLs (usually per week or per month) and request that it be “dugg”, “stumbled”, “bookmarked”, etc. on selected social media sites.
The submissions typically arrive via email to each member of that community.
Each member of the group then chooses to either delete that request or follow through and “buzz” their fellow member’s post or article.
Obviously, if your an honest buzzer, you are going to be graciously responding to many more requests than you submit.
The Math
If you do the math on this type of group voting structure it gets kind of interesting.
For example:
Group members = 100
Allowed request per day = 1
Average requests per group per day = 50 (not everyone makes a request everyday)
Number of email requests you get = 50
My experience with a few of these groups shows that typically, only the folks who consistently submit requests respond to others requests. This usually fits into the 80/20 rule, so only 20% of the members are really active buzzers. However, even these ladies and gentlemen do not buzz EVERY request, they only buzz content that they like AND have time for. This translates into about a 10 per day MAX or 20%.
So, plugging in these numbers, we can finish the calculation:
Number of consistent requesters = 20
Number of votes you get on your one request = 4
So, theoretically, on average you get about 4 votes for your 10.
The Verdict
Is it worth your time?
I say YES, but with a BIG caution.
Yes because 4 votes are more than you might get if you don’t join a buzz group. And… four well timed votes are all you need to get into the mainstream, and possibly the “jet stream”, on some social media sites and attract the attention of the average social media crowd looking for content that looks like it’s on the rise.
Caution because the numbers above are true for new buzz groups only. Why? Because inevitably a load of social marketing barnacles find established buzz groups and do nothing but make requests.
I have seen some of these guys leeching from multiple buzz groups, requesting buzz favors on the same content and never returning the favor or being part of the community.
So, unless there is an active buzz group admin that is seriously checking the activity of anyone who makes requests, the group is doomed to failure.
The other thing that tends to happen is the group gets so large that everyone’s Inbox fills up with requests each night and the active participants spend the first 30 minutes of the day deleting most and buzzing about 10.
So, I would also suggest trying to find a “closed” buzz group through a friend or forum. This type of group is more sustainable and efficient for the reasons stated above.
The Buzz Groups
I will be keeping my 2 little buzz groups to myself because they are humming along quite nicely for now. However, if you are interested in joining or inviting Web2Center readers to a buzz group, feel free to do so in the comments.
If you have some insight into the secret society of buzzers, please share your thoughts with us as well!
!
Although this amazing site is still in private beta, its worth a look. 
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
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