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6 Successful Elements For Social Media SuccessFeb 11 2008 | Design, Social Media Marketing |
The web is competitive. You need an edge. Social media marketing is becoming an essential tool to optimizing an online presence and creating strong connections with your audience. It is undeniable.
With billions being spent online each year, social media is gaining in popularity as a valuable resource. 4 out of 5 Americans read blogs and 57% of adults online watch or download videos. The stats keep going on.
Marketers are utilizing these tools to the best of their abilities and attracting more consumers than ever before. OK, sure- you need to have good content based around your idea, product or service. But some elements, when put in place, can add tons to that content. What are some of the elements that make a social media piece a success?
The first thing would be to know your audience and understand their specific online habits and interests as well as things like lifestyle, age, geography and profession. Discover how your audience communicates best and start a conversation. Maybe you are reaching out to the busy commuters that like to absorb information while in between the office and home. A podcast may be the easiest way to deliver your content or a blog.
Creating video is a perfect way to reach a wide audience and get people talking about your product. Does your product have a great visual appeal? Would it benefit for a video demonstration such as ‘how to use it’ or new and ‘improved features’, tutorials are a great way to build trust and relationships with an audience. If your content is created with your audience in mind then more than likely they will blog about it, discuss it and link back.
A blog created for an individual, company or product can create interest especially if it is rich with content. Video, images/photography and links to events all make the experience enjoyable and keep consumers or audiences coming back and ’sharing’ with friends. Social media should be about creating a sense of community and involvement.
RSS feeds are an important way to keep people informed and updated automatically with the latest products or services offered. Displaying a graphic on all social media pieces is critical to giving the viewer a chance to utilize this way to keep in touch. When your content is missing this element, it just might be loosing another consumer.
Less page views is an important thing to consider when creating a piece with lots of images. When companies break out an article into 25 different “slides”, for example Entertainment Weekly is famous for this, they make things into a slide show to increase page & ad views. So that people have to click through 17 times on that example above. This is frowned down on by social network users.
A clean design is also very effective. Imagine opening a drawer that has all your silverwar emixed up and a drawer where everything is in its right place. Yeah, big difference. A clean design can facilitate the viewer’s eye to flow around the content in a specific way and make the experience pleasant and controlled.
The ability for the viewer to enlarge an image or photograph is great if the content is geared around images. A simple option to click on an image or an icon such as a magnifying glass can keep the original content size down but still offer a more in depth look to specific things. Thumbnails are a great utilization of this, especially when they are able to be clicked and the full image is shown.
When your content is focused and to the point you aren’t wasting space or the audience’s time that it takes to view or read. Leave all the mumbo-jumbo sales and marketing speak out. Speak in a language your desired audience knows and they will respect you for it.
As you can see there are many ways to make your social media piece gain momentum and build on relationships with your audience. Some of these elements are obvious and simple to include while others take more creative thought and energy.
What do you think is the number one element for success in social media? How do you make that element work for you?
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Posted by Patrick Winfield at 10:01 am
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15 Responses to “ 6 Successful Elements For Social Media Success ”
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Marty says:
February 11th, 2008 at 10:59 amGroovy Baby…simple, to the point, a street level SEM sales-primer for any potential search marketing client to wrap their arms around at most basic levels.
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Amanda Fazani says:
February 12th, 2008 at 7:11 amI’ve really enjoyed reading this article. You demonstrate these techniques so well, and I will be referring back to this as a reference point for my future experiences with social media.
Thanks for sharing!
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Patrick Winfield says:
February 12th, 2008 at 10:23 am@ Marty- Yes, something easy to digest
Thank you for reading and commenting.@ Amanda- Thank you for reading the post and I am glad to hear you will be referencing back to it in the future. Best of luck with all your social media experiences!
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Karel Geenen says:
February 12th, 2008 at 12:21 pmNice one! Clean list with simple basic tips. Not for the advanced users but definately useful for beginners!
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Adrienne says:
February 12th, 2008 at 3:56 pmThis is a nice and concise article! A kind of who, what, when, where, why and how of social media. Thanks
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Craig Dewe says:
February 12th, 2008 at 4:00 pmI would say the number one element of success in social media is joining the community.
Too many businesses are standing on the outside trying to see how they can make lots of money by selling to social media users.
The businesses making the most money are the ones that are joining in on the social media landscape, contributing value to social media users, and generally leaving their marketing hats at home.
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Patrick Winfield says:
February 12th, 2008 at 4:13 pm@ Karel Geenen- thanks for reading the post!
@ Adrienne- I am glad you like the format, thank you.
@ Craig Dewe- Thanks for joining the conversation. You are spot on with your remark, you have to be on the field to play the game
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E-dot says:
February 14th, 2008 at 11:58 pmPatrick- first and foremost, great write up.
I actually like what E.W. does to serve the ad every time you click to a new pic- in fact thats a great idea for ad serving (which generates MAJOR revenue. Thanks for helping get my juices flowing on that one…I’ll be sure to make use of it!
With regard to social media and marketers, I agree with the fellow who commented above; if the marketers want to join the “game,” or conversation rather, then they have to leave their business suites/blouses behind.
My motto us “Keep it real,” and just create a dialog with people. Also, you are spot on about resourceful videos, people love visual experiences. Lastly, if these marketers are going to encroach on “the peoples” social networks, then they have to contribute something back to the users who help them generate a profit off the advertising (ohh..my…are industry secrets getting exposed?).
A great example of a fair exchange between advertiser/marketers and “the people” of social networks was how The Simpsons Movie marketers created a MySpace page to generate buzz around the new movie, and the page linked people back to the main movie web page (serving ads), but from which “the people” could create a personalized Simpsons character avatar- to me that was a fair exchange.
Anyway- keep them there posts coming!
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Patrick Winfield says:
February 19th, 2008 at 10:47 am@ E-dot- thanks for reading and adding to the conversation. Yes, ‘keep it real’ that is a great mantra to have. The Simpsons example is great- did you make a character? I tried to but didn’t have the time that day…nor did I see the movie yet
And no real secrets being exposed if we are, like you said, keeping it real! Thanks for reading! -
Alex Gardner says:
February 25th, 2008 at 3:26 amI definitely agree with Craig, but would add that sending an actual person in to play is probably better than going in as a business.
It is something that is quite hard to do, because it relies on some trust in your employees, but to have them enter the social media sites as themselves is probably more effective than entering as a faceless corporation.
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James says:
April 4th, 2008 at 6:34 pmGreat article thanks. I have found that one thing with social site marketing is that it’s impact on your search ranking can move wildly with time - and that it’s important to track your search rankings over time as your work these networks. I am using this tool to help us monitor the impacts ( both good and bad ) of working in these networks. Thought I’d offer it up.
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