1. Thou Shalt Use Your Ears Before Thou Uses Thy Mouth

Listen first. One of the most important aspects of social media marketing is listening. It’s essential that you know what people think about your sector, industry, product or service, what challenges they have, what solutions they need, what improvements they want and how your service can solve a common problem they have. Remember that conversations on social media channels are happening, with or without you. So if you want to better understand your customers and meet their needs you need to join those conversations and make the right comments.

2. Thou Shalt More Highly Value Quality Over Quantity

Feeling superior because you have a few thousand Twitter followers? Think again – what counts on social media is the value of those followers and fans, i.e. how many of them read your content, engage with it and share it. That’s what you should be counting. That goes for your content too – more is not better. Ensure that your content speaks to the problems and needs of the user.

3. Thou Shalt Maintain a Sharp Focus

Want to be successful on social media? Focus on a single thing that matters for your marketing strategy at current and avoid unproductive tasks. Highly focused social content marketing strategies do work, broad ones with no clear goal – not really.

4. Thou Shalt Stay Persistent

Social media may be free and easily accessible but that does not make it easy. You need to be persistent in generating quality content and keeping up with trends and news. That’s the only way to keep your audience.

5. Thou Shalt Share Generously Amongst Thy Neighbours

Gaining new followers is only your first step. Keeping those followers around and involved with your content is another story. In order to do that, make sure the content you put on your social media channels is of good quality, that it is educational and informative. Good quality content really goes a long way. Interesting reads get more reshares and comments and build a solid reputation.

6. Thou Shalt Be a Good Neighbour

One of the common mistakes businesses make on social media is that they forget to appreciate social interaction, shares and engagement and some can’t even be bothered to give a response to a direct question. The result is more or less always the same – a bad reputation among their audience. Understand that just like in the real world building a good relationship with your customers in the virtual world is the key to having a profitable business. Make sure your social media manager is a skillful communicator who is ready to answer promptly.

7. Thou Shalt Not Spam

Does it really have to be all about you? Overly advertising your products and services may easily irritate your audience. Now Twitter has introduced a mute button for those accounts that constantly spam your news feed that you may even find your broadcasts are unheard. Keep your self-promotion brief and meaningful. And remember the 20/80 rule of sharing content.

8. Thou Shalt Reciprocate Good Will With Honour

One thing you need to always keep in mind about social media is that it’s about give and take, push and pull. Nobody has to share your content, especially if you don’t give back in return. Want engagement? Then practise being a good neighbour.

9. Thou Shalt Use Thy Best Judgement Before Clicking Send

Social media may feel like home but you need to keep it professional, at all times. That doesn’t mean being stuck-up and serious, not at all. Just make sure you always use your best judgement before posting on social media, use appropriate language and remember you are representing your business’s values and core message.

10. Thou Shalt Be Accessible At The Place and Time of Thy Neighbours’ Convenience.

Your audience, customers and prospects must have easy access to your brand whenever they need and on whichever platform they prefer. This does not mean that you have to be 24/7 on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google + but it does mean that you need to be monitoring and responding in business hours. Also keep updates about your services and offers fresh and remember that being on social media does not count if you only have an account. You do have to show up to the party.

Do you swear by any social media commandments? Do you need help with your marketing? Contact us if you need a new or better social media strategy.