For those of you who are anti-social media, non-believers or unsure- I am here to convince you otherwise. Here is your wake up call and a real example professed by the CEO of Reddit.com at a recent TED TALKS.
Universal Social Media Lessons
1. The playing field is level: This is true in the fact that the internet is a place where anyone can publish content. If anyone can publish, anyone can create a successful internet meme or campaign. Can anyone create the ideas behind the campaigns with a high success rate? This is less than likely and where the amateurs of social social media get left in the dust. Social media experts and web 2.0 agencies are in fact, held responsible for creating content that fits the culture of a specific community. The goal is to create content that marries the brand with what the community finds valuable. This takes constant involvement in those communities and trend research to be able to use those communities to your advantage, time after time.
2. Social Media Submissions Cost $0
The actual cost of submitting content to a social community such as reddit.com, digg.com, stumble-upon, etc.. is indeed $0. Perhaps the only cost associated with social media marketing is the cost of content development and production. Its possible that your brand is a PR dream however, in most cases its not, within this gap there are many web 2.0/social media firms around to help you properly utilize social media for your business.
3. Be Genuine/Write Original Content
Writing original content is the backbone of everything on the internet. You should never inflate, lie or copy others work and claim it as your own. There are many negative SEO implications for copying content that comes from somewhere else and not to mention ethical problems associated with it too. The internet is for producing and reading original, interesting (and sometimes not so interesting) content. No posers allowed.
4. Lose Control
For those bigger corporations, losing control is probably the scariest thing one could say to you but for social media, you really have no choice. With the proper planning and campaign strategy, you can lose control positively. There will always be opposition to your brand but as long as the positive comments and sharing outweigh the negative, the word of mouth alone will go a long way. Word of mouth alone can make or break your brand, product or even business so using social media wisely key for any business.
I’m pro social media, yet I still read your article in convincing those who were not, to obtain several information that are very useful. The lessons you’ve given are indeed encouraging.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jean Huy and ncarson, Nicholas Santillo. Nicholas Santillo said: Alexis Ohanian, Reddit.com CEO: How to Use Social Media – http://shar.es/aDHAw [...]