Social Networks
Social networks provide the means to have conversations. They are not places (in the West) to overtly sell. They provide the means to build trust and position yourself as an authority.
People will tolerate a degree of self-promotion, but only if this a measured part of your output.
Your role is to encourage people to act (to your advantage) by helping them solve a problem or exploit an opportunity they may or may not perceive.
Planning
- Not all social networks are of equal value; be selective.
- Be where your prospects hang out, and only where they hang out.
- Have a schedule that balances "authority" posts with curated content.
- Timing is everything. Posts and tweets have a shelf life of minutes.
- Tap into current topics by linking your content to trending events.
- If you sell overtly, expect to be unfollowed and unfriended.
- Remember, you will be judged on your timeline.
Process
- Create opportunities to build your authority position.
- Signal this implicitly by creating attractive content.
- Write for your audience with equal measures of gravity and levity.
- Rehash and repurpose your best content.
- Set up scheduling software, but supplement this with topical posts.
- Stick to your subject and to your keyword theme.
- Set targets, measure your performance and refine your approach.
Pitfalls
- Being on Facebook/Twitter etc without a plan.
- Selling versus influencing.
- Infrequent posting and/or dormant social landing pages.
- Self-promotional content that looks like you're a robot.
- Creating off-theme or self-indulgent content.
- Being on the wrong social networks (very common).
- Not retweeting/posting or curating the content of others.
Ready to consider the 3 P's? (Planning, Process and Pitfalls). It's time to start your plan: