Starting out in social media

I was asked to provide a tweet (albeit in print) for a Business Insider article that discusses ‘how companies can make better use of the digital world around them, and explore what strategies they should be adopting to try and tap in to social media’.

I use twitter a lot and I’m used to editing / compressing my thoughts into 140 characters that (hopefully) form useful and clear communications. But this was a tough one – to convince an audience who possibly don’t yet know their Facebook from their YouTube that there is merit in exploring social media and in formulating an approach to use it to best effect.

So my tweet detailed an overarching principle / ethos for those looking to ‘tap into social media’:  “Rethink old approaches. Discern what customers / peers want. Share your expertise with integrity, don’t hard sell. Listen, Learn. Repeat.”

I think this is the start point for any new entrant to social media – if you don’t sign up to the ethos from the start then you risk failing, no matter how good your subsequent strategic plans are.

So, that’s the ethos. But what channels do you use, what approaches and strategies, to make it happen?

If you are one of those marketers that’s hasn’t yet employed social media and are a bit bewildered as to where to start, here’s a quick resource list for you. I’ve tried to keep this short and sweet – a trolley dash through the social media aisles, in about 2 minutes (as we all apparently have lower attention spans these days) …Go!

Firstly – click on the links below to check out or buy these two great books. These are personal favourites and in my view a great way to get a rounded view of what this social media marketing malarkey is and how it will transform your whole business (not just your marketing efforts). And that goes whether you have consumer or business markets that you deal with. Social Media works for B2B too.

If you doubt my choices, then set up a twitter or Linkedin account now and start asking your peer group what they would recommend.

Groundswell by Li and Bernoff

Engage! By Brian Solis

There are others of course, lots in fact, but these are pretty to the point. A mooch on Amazon will highlight the others in this arena.

And to show how social media really isn’t just about tweets, blog posts and Facebook likes, look at this pertinent (Bernoff meets Solis) , useful social object (that’s a film to you) on YouTube:

Also, sign up to some industry blogs, for example Charlene Li (one of the authors of groundswell) has some really good material.

Also look at the industry sites such as econsultancy; it’s worth considering membership if you are serious about your business undertaking digital marketing in general. A new econsultancy blog post highlights the type of research papers they regularly publish.

And there’s the IAB (Internet Advertising Bureau)

Finally, here’s a great round up of social media via the link below. They take more than 140 characters and 2 minutes to cover all of social media but you’ll be in no doubt at the end of it that social media is a must-do for your business.

Look, we’re linking to another agency – because it is a great presentation and we’re being collaborative and, well, social.

Good luck with your social media endeavours!