Social Marketing Guide

There is a great social networking guide at Search engine Land that you should bookmark and keep handy if you plan to get busy with social marketing, networking, and bookmarking.

The Social Media Manual: Read Before You Play

I get so many questions from people about Digg, Propeller, Reddit, Stumbleupon, and other social news sites every day that I decided to write this little “manual” as something to read before you jump in head first into any social site, and to keep by your side as you progress through the ranks. It should not only help you succeed with your social media marketing efforts, but also help you avoid some of the mistakes I’ve made.

1. Before you even think about signing up with a socially driven news site, consider this: Have you spent some time browsing the community (reading the content and the comments, learning about popular sources and players)? Do you understand how the site works and the niche it serves? If so, is the site for you?

While all socially driven sites have the same basic elements (reading, submitting, voting, and commenting), not all of them function the same way and they definitely don’t serve the same niche (remember, it is not a zero-sum game, and it is with good reason that so many socially driven sites have managed to not only co-exist but also grow at the same time). If you don’t invest time in determining whether a site is right for you from the start, all your subsequent hard work likely won’t pay off and you will have to switch to a different community at a future date.

That first tip is a very important one. If you jump right in with whatever social networking site you found recommended by someone and start bookmarking your blog posts and such, you may find it not working for you and may find yourself banned from the site.

Read the Terms of Service. Learn the rules. Vote on some stories. Comment on some stories. make some friends. Be part of the community. Then start sharing.