My friends all know this of course. It’s not like it’s something you can hide really, especially when you help people to grow their social networks and to make better use of social media.



I received an e-mail this week from my friend Tim out in Phoenix. Wave “Hi” Tim, you’re about to be internet-famous. Tim and I went to B-school together, and he is in the process of closing down an e-commerce website. Knowing many of you have similar questions about social media, I asked Tim if he’d let me share my response back to him with you by blogging it. He said “yes” by the way. I always knew he wanted to be internet-famous.



Ken,



-Tim



Hey Tim,



You will no doubt be thrilled to hear that you do *not* have to relocate your family from sunny Phoenix to rural Montana. Most people have now heard the buzz about social media, and many have tried it for themselves, but are not (yet!) seeing the results they want.



Results are the right place to start. As a form of communications, the first question to ask — if you are using social media for anything other than entertainment — is “What do I want to achieve?” Take the time to identify what it is, specifically, that you want to achieve. Increase your revenues? Reduce your costs? Get new customers? Find a date for your sister’s wedding?



I read five questions (cries for help?) in your e-mail Tim. I will address each of them in order:



1. Why is social media important?

Social media is important — and I am defining “important” here as an effective strategy for individuals and organizations to achieve their objectives — because it makes it fast, easy, and [in most cases] FREE for you to create and share content.



For example, with traditional (”paid”) media, you purchase print, website, radio, TV, and/or billboard space, and then you pay someone else to articulate the value of your particular product/service in a compelling way to catch peoples’ attention — all in the hopes of persuading people to buy. With social (”earned”) media, you are no longer in direct sales (”BUY MY STUFF!”) mode. Instead, you are engaging your target audience by freely sharing the value of your expertise with people who are interested in it. And yes, along the way, you are letting it be known that your products and services are available for purchase. Earned media is not a magic cure-all, but an effective addition, and booster, to your existing marketing mix of paid and owned media.



2. What is the value of Twitter?

One of the values of Twitter is that it is a powerful lead generator. Each and every 140-character SEO-rich tweet is indexed by Google in almost real-time, getting you and your content on the first page of Google’s search results.



3. What is the value of Fousquare?

One of the values of Foursquare is that it enables you connect more frequently with your network live and in-person. When I worked for Realogy, our building had a central staircase between the first and second floors that everyone used. Arguably, more business was done on that staircase than in the rest of the building combined, because it facilitated people running into each other. Likewise, Foursquare exponentially increases the opportunities for you to “run into” the people you know.



4. What is the value of Facebook?

One of the values of Facebook is that it enables you to reconnect with people from your different schools, companies, and organizations. The personal and professional possibilities multiply when you are able to more easily stay in touch with the people you know.



5. What is the value of LinkedIn?

One of the values of LinkedIn is the ability to identify and connect with people you want to reach through “friends of friends”. Because of its near ubiquity among business professionals, it also enables real-time access to first-hand information about your customers, suppliers, employers, and employees.



You’re already following me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/socialgrow), connected with me on Foursquare (http://foursquare.com/user/kenherron), have friended me on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/kenherron.fb), and connected with me on LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/in/kenherron). So what is it that YOU want to achieve with social media?



-Ken



SocialGrow Blog Readers: Do *you* have social media advice that you would like to share with Tim? Please feel free to include your recommendations in the comments section below, both on the importance of social media, and how he should be using Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook, and LinkedIn.



Last night, people were talking about Twitter (people always seem to be talking about Twitter around me…), and a friend asked, “You have over 15,000 followers. Can you share the ’secret’ so I can do the same for my [start-up] company?”



He seemed a little disappointed when I told him there really isn’t a secret to engaging with people on Twitter. As many smart people have already said, you listen, you create, and you communicate. I took a look at his Twitter account, and gave him a list of steps I recommended he take to better engage with his target audience. Looking at the list again this morning, I wanted to write it up and share it with you [below].



Ken’s List of 10 Steps to Engaging Your Target Audience on Twitter



1. Look Hard at Your Twitter Handle

While you want your Twitter handle to be as short as possible [so it doesn't eat into the 140 characters when people retweet your posts], be sure that it strongly relates to the name you use in your marketing communications so that it not only helps your SEO, but immediately identifies your Twitter account for both existing and new customers.



2. Use Your Own Photo

While many people are more comfortable using their company’s logo than their own photo, keep in mind that on Twitter people are still engaging with other people, even if they are representing brands.



3. Design a FANTASTIC “Tweetback”

Your Twitter background is the place to showcase not only your company’s logo, but to clearly articulate your brand’s unique value, story, and contact information. Design (or have designed) a compelling, brand-appropriate background. Check out http://twitterbackgroundsgallery.com/ for ideas and inspiration. And don’t forget to include the specific call to action you want people to take!



4. Share, Don’t Spam

People seem to forget that Twitter is inbound marketing (http://blog.hubspot.com/), and not outbound marketing. Why would anyone want to follow a never-ending stream of sales pitches? Focus on tweeting valuable [preferably your own original] content which shares your brand-appropriate expertise of greatest interest to your target audience. Think about the 1 in 10 rule — limit your direct marketing pitches to no more than 1 out of every 10 of your tweets.



5. Think 120

Limit the length of your tweets to no more than 120 characters (less is obviously better). While Twitter’s limit is 140 characters, if you use all of them, you make it harder for people to retweet your posts with their comments. You should also be retweeting your followers’ best tweets, and ALWAYS thanking them by name when they retweet your tweets.



6. Tweet at Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Tweet 3-5 times a day, throughout the day, minimally in the morning, at mid-day, and in the evening.



7. Use Multimedia

Think multimedia when you tweet. A mix of brand-appropriate photos, audio, and videos are more interesting for your followers than all text tweets.



8. Create Twitter Lists

Create brand-appropriate Twitter Lists to recognize and promote your followers.



9. Follow Great People

While you should obviously be following everyone who is talking about your company, your brands, and your products; you also want to follow people who are talking about your competitors, and the problems, needs, and wants your product or service solves. I have heard differing views on this, but as a company, I choose to follow back everyone [who's not a spammer, bot, or in a business inappropriate to my brand] who expresses an interest in SocialGrow.



10. Use the SocialGrow Application!

Following my own 1 in 10 rule, sign up now for the SocialGrow application at http://socialgrow.com! Launching soon, SocialGrow makes it easier to connect with people you don’t know, and faster to connect with people you do. Note that SocialGrow has a great consulting division should you need more help with using Twitter, effectively using other social networks, or creating an integrated social-media-inclusive marketing and communications strategy for your business or organization. Please feel free to contact me directly with your questions on ken.herron [@] socialgrow.com.