Sponsored Post: IdeaZone and Raul’s Top 5 Social Media Tips

Disclosure – This post has been sponsored by IdeaZone.ca as part of my campaign to raise funds for the BC Cancer Foundation. Blogathon is a charitable event and no monies ever come to my hands. The donation goes directly to the BC Cancer Foundation. Thank you to Idea Zone and Paul Holmes for their generous contribution to my Blogathon.

Twitter is amazing as a tool to engage and create new relationships . I had the pleasure to meet Paul Holmes (President of IdeaZone) and Catherine Novak (who now does the Social Media for IdeaZone) as Catherine invited me a few months ago to cross the pond and head to Victoria (in Vancouver Island) to be the keynote speaker for the Social Media Club Victoria. I have been warmly welcome to the Vancouver Island social media community and I look forward to collaborating in a few projects.

When Paul asked me to write a sponsored overview of Idea Zone I thought that it would be a good idea to combine the post with my top 5 social media tips. Their portfolio is substantially focused on Web 2.0 and thus it makes sense. The generous donation of Idea Zone will provide much needed funds to the BC Cancer Foundation.

What is Idea Zone? In their own words:

IdeaZone.ca is a Canadian website design and full-service marketing firm based in Victoria, British Columbia, with clients throughout Canada, and around the world.

We offer many services, including print and web design, e-commerce solutions, custom programming, photography, audio, video, and search engine optimization.

Most recently, we have become recognized local leaders in social media, with expertise in consulting, planning, policy, training, implementation, and social media integrated website design. We also offer seminars for organizations that are interested in learning more about using these emerging channels to extend their marketing reach.

Paul Holmes
IdeaZone.ca President

Much of the conversation that Paul, Catherine and I have had has been over social media platforms. I have been invited to speak on the topic of citizen engagement through online community-building several times particularly this past year. Understanding the behaviour of networks is something I have been passionate about, fascinated with and researched extensively. Online tools enhance the abilities of people to create strong networks. If we combine the tools with the passion, the result can be explosively positive. But there are drawbacks to irresponsible or ineffective use of social media.

So, given that I am so passionate about (and engaged in) social media, what would be Raul’s Top 5 Social Media Tips. Here is the lowdown:

1. Engage with your audience. This tip may sound a bit too obvious but you’d be surprised how many companies believe that they have a social media strategy because they have a Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube account. Of course, you need the tools and platforms, but if you are NOT monitoring your audience, you are doing yourself a disservice. Use Twitter Search, Google Blog Search and a number of other tools to allow you to monitor what people are saying about your product or service. Then, ENGAGE with the audience. Respond to customer service complaints. Praise people for what they are doing well. Provide information that proves effective and useful to your audience.

2. Be reciprocal and bi-directional. A number of people would say that I’m a bit contradictory in suggesting reciprocity given that I don’t follow everyone on Twitter on my personal account. But I do have a research account where I do practically follow everyone back. I believe that as a business, you can’t really afford NOT to follow everyone back. This is the case with every other social media platform. On Twitter, both on my personal and research account, I ALWAYS ensure to have a conversation. If you send me a reply (@) you can be assured that I will, for sure, respond. As a business, so should you!

3. In social media, giving is getting. You got to give if you want to get. If you want your stuff re-tweeted, your Facebook page fanned, your Flickr group joined, you NEED to be able to do the same for your audience. Your network will not place trust on you if you are unable to give. It’s a give-and-take game here, not only for reputation but also in cases where you support charities (goodwill building will take you places, believe me!)

4. Use a variety of social media platforms. Sure, you can be on Twitter all day responding back and forth, and sending messages about your audience. But you have to go where your audience is. If the customers of your business respond better to images, then use Flickr (photos), Viddler/Vimeo/YouTube (video). The virality of video is sometimes overhyped but it’s a fact that people respond when image is coupled with audio. Make your information portable (podcasts, videocasts) and easily accessible.

5. Test before you launch your new social media strategy. So you’ve created accounts in every single social media platform. Did you test them out? Did you ensure that the deployment of your social media strategy won’t create conflicts? (see for example the case of Skittles). Even if you have the perfect set of tools for your social media strategy, if your integration process is poor, you can rest assured you will have a headache faster than a rock falls in still water.

So there you have it, my top 5 social media tips for businesses who are engaging in/want to launch a social media strategy. Obviously, this list is NOT extensive but should provide some guidance. Of course, feel free to contact me if you have any questions (or drop a comment on this post). Thanks to IdeaZone for sponsoring this post!

If you would like me to write a blog post about your company or a topic of your choice and pledge to the charitable cause I am supporting, please get in touch with me via my contact form. Sponsorships range from $ 50 to $ 200.

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This is Entry # 11 of 49

If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating to the BC Cancer Foundation. You can find my donation page by clicking here. Every bit helps. Thank you in advance!

Related posts:

1. The @CPRSVanStudents event on Social Media 101
2. Social Media Club Vancouver launch
3. Practice what you preach in the social media field
4. On authenticity in social media
5. My recent Social Media Club Victoria talk: “Towards an Action-Focused Agenda for Social Change Using Social Media” (#smcvictoria) @smcvictoria