The Secret of Success in Social Media
Want to turn social media into a powerful asset for your career or company? Use it to help others. The more you support others, the more credibility - and reach - you will enjoy. Both will come in handy when you most need them.
This an extremely difficult lesson to learn.
Go to a company’s web site. Pick one at random. The odds are overwhelming that 95 percent of the content there promotes their own products and services.
Now look at their Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook feeds. You’ll probably see a similar stream of self-promotion. After a short time, such companies train readers to ignore what they say.
Countless consultants and authors make the same mistake. They tweet incessantly about their new book or article. They blab about that magazine that just wrote about them. There is nothing wrong with sharing your work, but when you do nothing else, you start to wear down the audience you wish to impress.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I also blab about my latest book. But there's a difference from what many people do. You can download my entire book for free, and only decide after you read it whether you want to buy a copy (for someone else.)
Why do I do this? Because I believe in helping other people first.
Truth is, it takes enormous self-discipline to find ways to help others instead of blindly self-promoting. People do not go online to read ads disguised as social updates, but most marketing departments ignore this reality. But most of us yearn for - and respond to - genuinely human voices, and in the long run an altruistic approach works far better than "buy-buy-buy-buy" messaging.
The best social media strategy is to always be on the lookout for valuable news that others will find useful. In doing so, you can demonstrate your mastery of certain subject areas. The quality of your reputation will become associated more with how you carry yourself, and less with how much you self-promote.
As your following grows, your efforts to help others will carry more weight. It won’t be any harder to help others – a tweet to 10,000 followers is no harder to send than one to 10 followers – but your impact will increase dramatically. As it does, people will show you more gratitude and respect.
When you think about it, the secret to success in social media isn't any different than the secret to success in life: help others first.
Bruce Kasanoff is the author of How to Self-Promote without Being a Jerk, a simple little book about doing well by doing good.
Find Bruce at Kasanoff.com or on Twitter @BruceKasanoff.
Image: Keoki Seu/Flickr
Sr. Business Director- TCS Interactive at Tata Consultancy Services
9yGreat article. Since the basic fundamentals of social media is to keep relations and being connected with those you care for or would like to be In touch with , the relations will be subjected to the same principles in the physical world: it has to be give and take. Uni directional transactions will ruin relationships forever in social as well. One of the key things companies can do is to open social media as a customer service channel, where your customers will be benefited and will value the relationship
Singer & Business woman
9ythis article really moved me
Creative digital marketing strategist, who believes in the power of strategy and data-driven personalization
10yI couldn't agree more with you Bruce, its all about engagement and sharing helpful info, by doing that the sales will naturally come in
Owner/Operator at Richard Ellis Door Company
10yYour post is altruistic. I'm reminded of the many times that I've helped and taught people about a project, service, or product only to see them walk out the door and buy from my competitor who offered nothing more than a lower price. So, yes, as Charlotte Day suggests, let's be 80% helpful but not forget about the 20% part of 'What's in it for me'. We do have bills to pay.