Even though social media is a hot topic, intelligent marketers are asking the question about social media’s value in comparison to their other online marketing endeavors. If you’re following the buzz, you’re already understanding the fact that success in social media is not as easy as initially perceived; it takes time, strategy and commitment. Your time investment in developing networks in social media communities and content for these networks has to be measured against your time requirements elsewhere.





If you are concerned with immediate ROI and definitively “track-able” results, this presents a quandary of sorts. How can you justify hours of social media brand building with the expectation that at some point, it’s going to generate measurable traffic and inbound links?

The “SEO value proposition” of social media is that you get your message out to communities and individuals entrenched in an innovative online environment. You become a part of the community which understands online relationships; and that community brings forth new connections, networks and inbound link opportunities.

Here are 5 ideas that you can use to begin building your social media strategy, without getting yourself in overboard or sacrificing too much of your time upfront. Be warned! Because once you start getting involved and seeing some successes, you may just start realizing that there is a value in social media after all.

1.) Dedicate a 15 Minutes Each Day
In the end, you must make social media a priority and not just a task. Otherwise, it sits on the shelf with personnel reports and compliance checklists. Here are some ideas for your 15 social media minutes for the first couple weeks:

• Day 1: Take a look at one of these popular lists of social media and web 2.0 sites and identify a couple places of interest.
• Day 2 - 7: Read one or two social media articles just to get up to speed with what has been going on in the space.
• Day 8 - 14: Spend your 15 minutes simply surfing the few places you identified on Day 1 in order to get a feel for the particular site. Make sure to read the about pages, terms of service and other supporting details just to make certain you agree with everything. If it turns out you don’t really like the site, go back to the lists from Day 1 and select some other place to go.
• Day 15 and on: If you haven’t done so already, create a profile on that social media site and start contributing. The next 4 ideas help make this a more effective and productive experience.

2.) Apply Social Media to Your Personal Interests
Just because a social media site seems popular doesn’t mean it’s going to work well for you and your business. It’s easier to get involved in social media sites if you actually like what you are doing.

• Dig Digg because of the topical news and information it provides.
• If you’re a video fan, create a profile in YouTube and start “favorite”-ing videos you enjoy watching.
• Social Media sites like Webshots, Mixx and (of course) Flickr are great for people who enjoy images and photography.

3.) Apply Social Media to Your Personal Behavior
Not only should you consider your own interests, but also consider how social media can be a part of your workday routines, without being intrusive to those routines.

• If you’re addicted to your Treo, Blackberry or text messaging, start thinking about how Twitter could be a part of your routine.
• Instead of getting all of your early morning news from CNN or Fox, take a look at what the popular news is in places like Digg or Propeller.
• If surfing the web via Google is a favorite activity when time is available, download the StumbleUpon toolbar to tailor your surfing interests in a way that gives you random results based on topics you know you already enjoy.

4.) Set Small Goals First
Driving thousands of visitors and hundreds of links via social media sites should not be the only goal you’ve scoped for social media success. Set personal goals designed to make sure you use your time effectively and efficiently when initially getting active in each community. Some suggestions may be:

• Vote for 5 stories you enjoy and provide a comment on one of those stories per day
• Locating 1 person with similar interests to network with in your applicable social media websites
• Answering 2 questions on Yahoo Answers or LinkedIn each day

5.) Celebrate & Evangelize Your Successes
Each time you send traffic to your website, obtain that inbound link or gain that respected connection, share that success story with your colleagues and co-workers. If you’re lucky, you’ll find that success is contagious and other people in your “offline” world may want to try figure this social media thing out as well. Do your part to help those people understand how they can also contribute to your new social media network.

In summary, it’s not easy to get into the habit of “social media”. While the end goal can be understood, the intermediary steps often become unclear and overburdening. Setting progressive milestones and tailoring social media towards your own interests and behavior helps make the creation of this strategy a reality. Even though you must make some time for social media, celebrating the little successes often provides enough support for continuing your efforts and bringing others into the mix.

What are your thoughts on how to make social media a part of your everyday business strategy? We would love to hear your comments and suggestions as well as success stories related to your own social media endeavors.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 at 1:07 pm and is filed under Social Media Strategies. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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