What better time than now to review our own social media marketing activities: Where have we come from and where are we going with our online relationship efforts?
What I find interesting is the lack of continuing education requirements for social media participation. Look at all the professional fields that require continuing education credits, from attorney and accounts to doctors and all kinds of others professionals.
Yet, in setting up our social media profiles, we often think once we’ve done the setup we’re finished forever. All we have to do now is participate and what’s left to learn? Trust me, in the world of effectively using social media marketing, what’s left to learn is so immense that it’s almost impossible to keep up with.
Why then is it important to try to stay current with the most relevant elements of the top social media sites? First, because there are always major changes – changes that frequently mean more opportunities for us. (One example is that Facebook promotions no longer require approval or $10,000.)
Second, because things that we did early in our social media participation may not now be the best practices. (One example of this is that many LinkedIn members do not realize that, by going into the “edit profile” mode, they can get a customized LinkedIn URL.)
If you’re not sure whether the elements of your social media profiles are the best they can be, check out the profiles of people on these sites who you know to be very knowledgeable. See what elements these people have that you don’t have – or which elements you have that are not on their profiles.
Then figure out how to adapt the elements of effective profiles for your own profiles. Review your social media profiles now rather than putting this task on a future “to do” list.
© 2011 Miller Mosaic, LLC
Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) and her social media marketing company partner Yael K. Miller (@MillerMosaicLLC on Twitter) work with clients to effectively use social media to attract their target markets.
