5 Tips for Managing Social Media

As I make presentations and write about social media, I continue to hone in on my specific views about how to use and manage your social media. Here are some of the points I’ve been making for the last year that still hold up and have crystalized into some of my key points about social media management.

1. A Blog is Your Social Media Hub
When I say this, many people still look at me in terror, especially those who finally got a web site up after all these years or just spent a bucketload of money to redesign their existing web site. I’m not saying that a web site is now obsolete because of social media and Web 2.0 tools, however, blog publishing tools tend to integrate these tools so that embedding social functionality is incredibly easy.

Many web sites and custom or older web site content management systems don’t even support javascript or flash code, literally stripping out widgets and embedded social features. This functionality flaw makes social media integration a bitch. (Note that WordPress.com also has this flaw which really pisses me off.)

Are You Following Too Many People on Twitter?

Image via CrunchBase

I was just trying to reduce the number of followers I was following for 2 practical reasons:

1. I can’t believe how many tweets I miss from people I really want to hear from;
2. I can’t believe I can properly follow 800+ people, especially if I’m missing important tweets.

I have about 40 pages of people I’m following on Twitter. As I began skimming page by page by page, I could pretty much tell you:

1. at least one thing about each person (or account holder as I also follow organizations and companies) and usually more;
2. how I know them or know of them; and
3. why I follow them.

MySpace or Facebook: How well do you know your audience?

Image via Wikipedia

Shannon Paul recently blogged about the difference between Facebook and MySpace users as outlined in NetPop Research’s new report “Connect Social Networkers 2008.” While most of the findings do make sense to me (Shannon mentioned they might seem counterintuitive), putting social media marketing campaigns into practice prove out something different.

Shannon says:

Many still think of MySpace users as younger than those on Facebook. This may have been true before Facebook opened up to users other than those with a .edu email address, but the research indicates students are more likely to be on Facebook and MySpace users are indeed older and more likely to be married.

I’m finding that when I specifically try to reach 30- or 40-somethings for campaigns, they aren’t biting at MySpace even though I know they are there. If I’m trying to reach “moms,” however, those 30-something plus women come out of the woodwork, for example.

Why Do You Want to Be My Friend?!?

I am stunned and amazed by how many people just send out friend invites without taking a moment to type a few words about why they want to connect with me. The two social networks where this happens the most are Facebook and LinkedIn. Come on people, where is your social networking etiquette?!?

If I know you in real life, then I won’t think twice about accepting your friend offer (unless I don’t like you). But if you don’t know me personally, don’t assume I’ve heard of you or know that you follow me on Twitter or remember exchanging cards six years ago at an Internet event. Not putting a quick note to explain why you want to connect with me is nothing short of annoying and dare I say rude.

I know Emily Post and Ask Amy have yet come up with the Etiquette of Social Networking yet, so maybe I better start writing that book now because it is much needed. Some things I’d include would be:

1. Define your own friending policy. Before you go off half-cocked sending out friend invites, develop a strategic plan for who you’ll friend and why. Do the same for whose friend invites you’ll and accept and why you might reject one. This will be a helpful tool to refer back to as you build your social networks.

Social Media and Web 2.0 for Business

Image via Wikipedia

In the mid-1990s, business owners were realizing that they needed to understand the Internet and have a presence on the World Wide Web. Today, web sites are a given for almost any business. Now there are blogs, social networks, wikis, RSS feeds, widgets and a slew of other online sites and tools that are considered part of Web 2.0.

This post is the first of a series of posts designed to help business owners understand social media and Web 2.0 tools to enhance their online marketing efforts.

What Is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 refers to a more enhanced version of the Web we all know. Web sites that reflect Web 2.0 facilitate collaboration, networking, content sharing, and social interaction. Social media refers to any type of online media that has an added social aspect to it. Social media empowers others to share your message.

Blogs Are Social

For example, blogs are considered social media. While blogs started out as sites where anyone could easily publish text and images, they eventually included a feature allowing readers to comment on the blog posts. The comment section on blogs such as this one can become online communities where readers not only comment on what they read from the blogger but also communicate amongst themselves. Blogs are much more social than web sites that contain static text.