10e20 Blog

Social media success is built around momentum. This driving force can come in many different formats and can be harnessed (or created) in a variety of fashions. In my experience participating in social media, the momentum behind the stories is much more important than the “hook” or actual content of the story. But how can this “momentum” work for you? Here is a breakdown of the different types of momentum in social media today:

Uncontrollable Momentum

These types of momentum cannot be artificially created, only harnessed to make a story popular on social bookmarking sites.

1) Hot Topic Stories
Fresh stories that are relevant to a current hot topic naturally gain momentum by adding more information or knowledge on that topic. Since users are actively looking for information on this fresh topic, the subject itself will build momentum with no additional work required. This is the most natural form of momentum that a story can accrue as it will attract a variety of different users who are genuinely interested in the topic at hand. For even more on this topic, see our current events and social media post.

Real Life Example:
Apple releases a new iPod nano, so a story about the sizes and sales numbers of the nanos throughout history could be created to feed off of the momentum that the hype of the news has created.

2) Trafficked Website
Popular websites with traffic that consists of a high percentage of social media users build large volumes of momentum naturally. If the website has loyal users that are active on social media sites they will be inclined to give a vote to stories that they like. For sites like Digg.com a perfectly targeted site might be gizmodo.com as it has large volumes of techie users; for Reddit this may be the thinkprogress.org as they have traffic that is of a more political nature.

Real Life Example:
Cracked.com has built a business strategy based around social media. They have a high ratio of active diggers that frequent their site. If I submit a story from Cracked.com when released, then I will use the momentum of the visitors to push my submission popular on social sites.

3) Supported Website
Many websites today have a “social backing” that help promote stories from the site. These sites have either hired a Social Media Marketing firm, have a SMM in-house or simply have large voting networks that back the site. This momentum is effective for the submitter as they don’t have to do the hard work in building the momentum, the supported website does it all for them.

Real Life Example:
ExampleSiteHere.com is a relatively new site, but you see that it is getting popular on social media networks. By submitting new posts from ExampleSiteHere.com, you can try to harness the promotional methods used by the members that are backing up the site.

Controllable Momentum

Potentially the most dangerous (and powerful) momentum that can be used is the type that you create yourself. While this can be incredibly effective, this type usually looks the most artificial and if used incorrectly could get you on the fast track to becoming banned across social media sites.

4) Create Your Own
Creating momentum is intrinsic to many small webmasters or newbies to social media. The majority of networks allow for users to share stories with each other, Digg with “shouts,” StumbleUpon with “send to a friend,” Mixx with “share a link.” These, along with other public message outlets like Twitter and Plurk, are highly effective ways to get a story noticed, but also leave a rather large footprint as to your promotion methods. In addition, instant messages, voting groups and other direct messaging can help boost a story’s votes more privately, but are very spammy and should be done very carefully if at all. Obviously, the more users that see the story, vote on it or comment/tag give the story more visibility and momentum to become popular, but many of the sites are discounting votes that do not look organic, so moderation and differentiation is crucial.

Real Life Example:
You submit a story on digg.com and “shout” it to your Digg friends and IM to your industry friends.

5) Buy Momentum
The absolute worst type of momentum that one can use for social media marketing is to purchase momentum. Many sites exist that allow users to pay for votes on different social media sites. This is terrible for a variety of reasons, with the biggest concern being that you are legally cheating, breaking all TOS and can have your site banned. It is extremely easy to track who pays for votes and this form of momentum should be avoided at all costs if you are trying to achieve long term goals for a site.

Real Life Example:
You purchase votes for a story you submitted to Digg.com from a broker (and end up getting your site and account banned).

While each of these different tactics can be effective, parlaying different forms of momentum can yield astronomical results. It is also essential to utilize different forms of momentum as it will leave you and your profile with a much cleaner footprint!

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