Social Media Marketing Best Practice: Use multiple media

Continuing Mitch Joel’s excellent suggestion to write about social media marketing best practices, today’s post is about the differences in media.

The social media universe now includes many, many types of web sites and media. It’s not just about blogging. Social media includes podcasting, videocasting, networking, photo sharing, instant messaging, and texting. And importantly, it includes dialog in all of these media.

Blogging still figures importantly for a variety of reasons. The written word can be powerful, and importantly, most people can respond and give feedback via a blog, which is not as true for other media. Also, reading the written word is much faster for most people than listening to a podcast or watching a videocast of the same information.

There are some people who are tied to the blogging and the written word. While there may be valid reasons for blogging, a social media marketing campaign will have greater reach and participation if other media are also incorporated. Just as some people prefer to create in a certain media, (written word, audiocast, videocast), people also prefer to “consume” in certain media. And many people consume different media depending on the situation. Some people access the internet in the evenings at home, and enjoy watching video clips. Others like to listen to information on their commute, so prefer audio versions. Yet other folks scan the internet while at work and want information in written form so that they can read and digest the information they are seeking quickly.

Once you have developed your core message, adapt it to the nuances of each of these very different presentation media. Written word, video, and audio media are all different, and each should be utilized properly. After all, we wouldn’t use a TV ads’ audio for a radio commercial– a radio commercial needs to be created knowing that there are no visuals to go with the audio.

For those discovering this meme, and want to learn more, here are other outstanding contributions:

• Consistency (Mitch Joel)
• Embrace your audience (Jason Falls)
• Find the right people (Kate Trgovac)
• Listen and add value (Kipp Bodnar)
• Listen (Chris Brogan)
• Be human (Kristie Wells)
• Honesty and respect (Paisano)
• Watch what people actually do (Liz Strauss)
• Provide a platform (Beth Harte)
• Earn influence (Zeus Jones)
• Tell a story (Gavin Heaton)
• Lift up others (Drew McLellan)
• Inclusion (Shel Holtz)
• Permission to Play (Eaon Pritchard)
• Think about yourself for once (Erin Cartaya)
• Forge relationships (Laurence Borel)
• Community engagement (William Azaroff)
• Real world first (Trey Reeme)
• Create a positive environment (Tim McAlpine)
• Be dedicated and stay motivated (Dan Thornton)
• Create great content (Aaron Strout)

I have been remiss in tagging others to add to this meme. I tag William Azaroff, Aaron Strout, Tim McAlpine, and Trey Reeme.

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Tags: Aaron Strout, Beth Harte, Chris Brogan, Dan Thornton, Drew McLellan, Eaon Pritchard, Gavin Heaton, Jason Falls, Kate Trgovac, Kipp Bodnar, Kristie Wells, Laurence Borel, Liz Strauss, Mitch Joel, Paisano, Shel Holtz, social media marketing best practices project, Tim McAlpine, Trey Reeme, Twist Image, William Azaroff, Zeus Jones