Aaron KahlowAttend any marketing conference today and you’ll hear lots of excited talk about social media. All of this buzz isn’t without reason: social media presents an unprecedented opportunity to extend your brand’s reach inexpensively, build customer loyalty, and generate revenue.  

Unfortunately, when it comes to actually participating in social media, many marketers either rush in without an objective or strategy or stay on the sidelines, fearful of losing control of their brands.

In reality, social media is a very forgiving marketing platform, but only if you play by the rules and approach it with a considered strategy and reasonable expectations. It is important to understand that there will be a certain amount of “learning as you go,” and that you’ll likely have to implement several iterations of any plan before enjoying appreciable results. It is also important to avoid the five “deadly sins” of social media:

BLOGGING FOR ITS OWN SAKE

Think carefully about whether you have enough to say to sustain a blog. Users expect a blog to provide value and to be regularly updated, and maintaining a blog can be an extremely time-consuming proposition. Uninteresting posts made for the sake of updating your blog will greatly diminish the impact of your valuable posts. If you’re not prepared from a resources or value proposition perspective, hold off.

PERSONALITY DISORDERS

Consumers care about your products and their impact. Instead of making the CEO or a senior marketing executive the face of your social campaign, consider junior level employees with a passion for social media. They will better connect with and engage your target audience.

FACEBOOK FATIGUE

I’m a huge proponent of Facebook and LinkedIn, but don’t be that company or that person who does anything and everything for attention. Whether it’s the group that sends out multiple messages a week or the individual who continually updates his profile, no one likes an attention hog. Be sensible about updating your corporate and personal online environments—or people may tune you out.

THE RUSH TO BUILD

Instead of building your own community, join an existing social network and create your own subgroup. Leverage the network’s infrastructure and traffic while learning what it takes to engage your audience and whether the community adds value to you or your consumers. Seeing a successful social network in action gives you the information necessary to make an informed decision about building your own.

JUMPING INTO THE POOL BEFORE LEARNING TO SWIM

You must have some personal experience with social media before jumping into the deep end. Subscribe to some RSS feeds, read a few blogs you find interesting, and participate! Until you understand the psychology, language and etiquette of the Web, you’ll never be able to successfully navigate it.