I recently spoke at SES (Search Engine Strategies) London on a panel about social media, and I gave a presentation on engaging in social media.  Check out my fellow panelists (who are extremely smart women with lots of great ideas on social media):

Jennifer Evans Laycock, Director of Social Media, SiteLogic Editor-in-Chief, Search Engine Guide

Lisa Ditlefsen Director, Verve Search Founder, SEO Chicks

Liana Evans Director of Internet Marketing KeyRelevance

Since the presentation below is primarily visual I thought I’d share some of the key points.

The Three Rules to Engaging in Social Media

1. Social Media is a Conversation.

Imagine you are in a bar engaged in deep conversation, possibly with an attractive person of the opposite gender or just with a group of friends.  Out of nowhere a man jumps in between you shouting “try my beer, try my beer”.

You would probably want to punch him in the face.

Now imagine you go to the bar to order your next drink and the bartender offers you a sample of the new beer.

Social rules still apply online.  You have to join the conversation.  Be creative.  Don’t accost people with your marketing.

(You can see Chelsea Blacker’s post on this at Base One Search Blog)

2. Nobody Cares About your Product.

Repeat this to yourself.  Again, and again and again.

People care about a problem and a solution.

Find something that people are passionate about related to your prodcut and engage on that.

3. Add Value

Add legitimate value, remembering that nobody cares about your product.

A) Be Useful – Provide something of use to your audience.  This can take many forms – customer support, information, tools, tips & tricks, etc.

B) Be Funny – This is hard to do.

C) Be Interesting – Also difficult – remember, not interesting to YOU but interesting to other people who don’t care about your product.

D) Support a Cause – People like companies that give back.

If you wonder if your campaign will be successful, forward it to 10 people in your “target” and ask them “Would you go out of your way to share this with your friends?” If the answer is no then you fail.

Always Start with a Marketing Objective

Start with the objective, not the tools.  Then select the tools and the approach with the tool that best matches your marketing objective.

• Sales
• Leads
• Links
• Traffic
• Brand Equity
• Brand Awareness

Tips for Success…..

• Have Clear Goals
• Know your target audience
• Join the community and the conversation
• Add real value
• Analyze results
• Adjust
• Use tools together
• Be authentic and genuine

Thoughts?  Anyone have other great examples that I can use in the future?

You can see Li’s Post on the panel here.