[NMMC] Mike Stopforth has advice for social media marketers

(This is a synopsis of talk given by Mike Stopforth, Social Media Consultant at Cerebra, at the new Media Marketing Conference)

Internet users have disposable income, logic suggests that at least 8% should be allocated to online. Brands are reluctant to invest proportionally in the space.

10 lessons for Social Media Strategy

Be yourself. Don’t think you have to be geeky, exciting, fresh. If you are a bank, be a bank. As a consumer, that is what we are expecting. Be authentic. Consumers reject if you come across as fake.

Be honest. Example, Samsung set up a “fake” blog, which was picked up by consumers quickly.

Be Quick. That is tough for big brands. They are not designed to be quick. Respond quickly. The quicker you respond to negative feedback, the quicker you blow the wind out of sails. The quicker you respond to positive feedback, the more track you will get out of it. Employ someone full time to represent your brand online.

Don’t think of social media as being mutually exclusive from traditional, above-the-line media. More brands should eg put blog address with their tv ads. Mention postcasts on radio ads. Ex Calvin Klein campaign on Radio 5 linked up with Facebook.

Don’t reinvent the wheel. Make use of existing functionality to promote your brand. Capitalise on word of mouth potency.

Find the influencers. Use Social Media campaigns to find those people that you would never find through any other means. The authentic advocates. Use tools like Amatomu to see who is passionate about what.

Involve the Influencers you have found. Meet them. Recognize the bloggers, listen to them. Interact with them on a genuine level. Invite them to product launches, other events. Send them press releases (with their permission), or give them news before it breaks. Ask the for advice, sponsor them.

Social Media campaigns do not result in thousands and thousands of people who sign up. But those that do sign up are of extremely high quality.

It’s not about technology. Don’t get hung up on Facebook, and the likes.

Note: For photographs, videos and blog posts by Zoopy, the official social media sharing partner for the New Media Marketing conference, go to www.zoopy.com/newmedia.