Tom H. C. Anderson - Next Gen Market Research™

So You Want to be a Social Media Influencer?
(TOP 10 SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS INTERVIEWS PART III)

Social Media Do’s

What’s the one important thing you need to know if you want to be successful in social media?

There are no rules. There’s only what works and what doesn’t work for you
- Guy Kawasaki

What you want to accomplish in social media. Without goals, you have no direction or ability to know when you achieve it
- Jason Falls

Just be who you are warts and all and learn how to say you are sorry when you screw up. Perfect people and perfect companies do not exist and would be really boring on social media if they did
- Eve Mayer Orsburn

You need to know your goals. It’s not about “likes” or “followers”, it’s about relevant connections, connections that are meaningful to your goals
- Glen Gilmore

Never take yourself too seriously and always remember, someone is smarter and faster so don’t get lazy
- Paul Barron

It’s all about engagement and connecting with people. Relationships!
- Eric T. Tung

Be human, and act like you’re human
- Ann Handley

Be helpful, not hypeful
- Liz Strauss

HAVE FUN!!! Again, it’s freakin’ SOCIAL, so be social! (This ties into one of my most popular lines: I’m not good with people because it’s good for business. I’m good at business because I like people.)
- Ted Coiné

Understand your industry and business strategy first
- Scott Monty

Social Media Don’ts

What’s the biggest mistake you see marketers making related to social media?

Experimenting without clear goals, direction and planning for measurement to ensure knowledge of success or failure. You can’t measure after the fact. You’ve got to plan and measure all along the journey
- Jason Falls

Trying to come up with goals and strategies
- Guy Kawasaki

Marketers keep social media in marketing but social media is simply communication which means that every department if every company needs to explore and work on it together including R&D, HR, Sales, Legal, Communications and so on
- Eve Mayer Orsburn

Using metrics that don’t matter in themselves - like followers and fans, or klout score. They can be taken into account, but overall, it’s the quality of the interaction that matters far more
- Eric T. Tung

Simple: not being “social” - they don’t listen or say “Thank you” or “Sorry about that, we’ll take care of it.”
- Glen Gilmore

Talking more than listening. Broadcasting not engaging
- Ann Handley

They talk about themselves, their company, and their products too much. They pitch when they should be offering an invitation
- Liz Strauss

There are so many, but one that kills me, which I see often: putting some intern in charge of social, and then wondering why you aren’t successful. How about finding a brand champion who also loves the social web, and reassigning them to work in the social department? (Need I say “duh?”)
- Ted Coiné

Treating it like another channel to market at people
- Scott Monty

Come back next week as we continue this series and I ask our influencers about more specific tips on how to be more efficient with your social media.

@TomHCAnderson
@OdinText

[Social Media Influencers; Part I, Part 2]