Have you ever wondered if there is anything more to life than being really, really ridiculously good-looking?
Of course, there is!
Being popular!
Just kidding, sort of.
Ok, enough with the Zoolander.
Although social media seems to follow high school rules of cliques and popularity, there are ways to become buzz-worthy, without inventing Yahoo, Facebook or being ridiculously good-looking. These pointers not only work for building your social media platforms, but pretty much any other initiative in the marketing universe.
- Be Right.
You will never, and I mean never, gain a significant amount of credibility by letting your grammar slide or blowing off your sentence structure—especially as an agency or other public-facing company.
If a consumer or company will be using your services in any way, they are going to expect correct grammar. Now, I know that not everyone out there knows the difference between "its" and "it's," or the correct uses of "me," "myself" and "I," but there should be someone in your office that knows grammar rules. If not, I suggest you invest in an AP Style Book, as well as Strunk & White's Elements. During my years in journalism school, these were my bibles.
Understand that spending the time on revisions and edits will not only make your company look more professional, but it will make your information easier to read and more educational, since the readers aren’t concentrating on your mistakes.
Also, it goes without saying that the statistics quoted and the information written must be factual. If you aren’t checking your sources properly, you shouldn’t even be in business.
- Be Yourself.
I feel like this idea is a never-ending battle with companies and business-types involved in social media. Credibility comes with genuine interaction, and in social media, genuine interaction comes with being involved in people's online lives.
Genuine interaction in the business world is best accomplished face-to-face.
Here's the disconnect: If you feel comfortable sending an employee out for a face-to-face business meeting, why would you feel uncomfortable letting them communicate online? There is the same opportunity for screw-ups. I digress…
- Be Risky.
Risky doesn't necessarily mean RIS-KAY (hello, Christian Siriano). Risky simply means you are willing to put in time and effort for things that may or may not work. Risky means you are willing to give 10 people your product and rights to blog about their experiences… unscripted. I can feel you starting to sweat already, so we'll move on, but these are the types of bold moves that create buzz out of thin air. Ford's doing what?! Target gives how much to charity through Facebook?!
- Be Devoted.
This is also a huge problem with a lot of companies internally, as well as clients. We all want to have a social media presence, but we don't want to continue the investment once it is all set up.
When you set up a group, fan base or following, it's making a commitment to send viable information to these people. It is also a commitment to listen. If you aren't willing to really do those two things and do them until death do you part, then please don't start. You will only make things worse for yourself plus you will clog up the interstates of the web. I'm already sick of seeing all the junk and SPAM on there now. We don't need yours too.
- Be Conscious.
The more aware you are of the social media (or any other) surroundings, the better. The pace is very fast. There is information moving at warp speed. So read… read like your life depended on it. Read every stupid study that every know-it-all has written about Facebook.
Then you will be less likely to step on toes or make people angry. Plus, it gives you great insight into where the holes lie in the social media landscape. You are able to find where you fit in and where your genius is needed.
These five initiatives give you an easy place to start with your internal or external social media initiatives. If done correctly, the positive input will become positive output in the form of social proof. Social proof is the newest buzz word that simply means third-party endorsement on a personal level. It comes in the form of RTs, Recommendations and Likes. As social media evolves, experts say social proof is all you need. What do you think?