10 Ways to Succeed in Social Media, Part Eight

8. Educate others more than you promote yourself.

A big mistake many organizations make is to use social media the way they use traditional marketing vehicles such as direct mail, email, print and broadcast. Instead of listening to their constituents, they’re tooting their own horns and focusing on ROI. They’re doing everything they can to force one-way, top-down, interruptive marketing messages into channels that were built for permission-based dialogue that doesn’t necessarily conform to a preconceived agenda.

What they’re doing is like trying to place a square peg into a round hole. Their efforts are futile.

But that’s not to say you can’t generate leads and sales in social media. In fact, if you conduct yourself appropriately in these spaces and places, chances are your efforts will result in a multitude of new business opportunities.

Use the blogosphere, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other such properties to share not only your knowledge and expertise, but also a little about who you are as a person and a lot about the industry in which you earn your livelihood.

Create as much valuable content as possible and then give it away for free.

Become a publishing machine, a brand that’s much more informative, supportive and educational than promotional.

Put the good word out about your products and services, but do so because you want to help others, not because you’re in it for a buck.

In social media, the more you open up to others as a fellow human being, the more they’ll get to know you as someone they can confide in, look up to and trust. The more they’ll want to do business with you and your organization.

This is the eighth in a 10-post series on how to succeed in social media. Over the course of the next month or so, I’ll publish the remaining two posts in the series here on my blog, A New Marketing Commentator. Please stay tuned. And if you have any feedback on this series for me, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment. Thanks.

Previous Posts in This Series…

10 Ways to Succeed in Social Media, Part One
Adopt the right company culture.
10 Ways to Succeed in Social Media, Part Two
Set realistic expectations.
10 Ways to Succeed in Social Media, Part Three
Create enough quality content.
10 Ways to Succeed in Social Media, Part Four
Stand for your brand.
10 Ways to Succeed in Social Media, Part Five
Work as a team.
10 Ways to Succeed in Social Media, Part Six
Leverage a number of channels.
10 Ways to Succeed in Social Media, Part Seven
Overcome the social media “dip.”

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