“It’s Wedding Season!” Yes, its the kind of excitement and passion you need in your social media marketing. The kind that has Vince Vaughan screaming in his office in the classic movie Wedding Crashers. It may be juvenile, but it’s his passion and he’s dedicated to being the best. Building and clever, but most importantly winning strategy.
That’s the kind of attitude you need to pull off BIG results in the Social Mediasphere! The kind of attitude, Social Media Rockstar Gary Vee demonstrated every minute of his very public days. If you haven’t seen him attack social media to build his empire you need to read his book Crush It! or to really see his energy pop and feel inspired get it on Vook.
Whether its feeling compelled to pull off the ultimate crash or improving Social Media strategy it all comes down to having a winning formula.
The Wedding Crashers lived by strict rules that gave them proven advantages in pulling off the ultimate wedding crash. Developing these proven rules can give you the same advantage with your social media strategies and pulling off the ultimate campaigns. It’s all social, so the rules aren’t so different.
Rule #71 – Research, research, research the wedding party. And when you are done researching, research some more: The power of social media is the vast endless stream of information on any topic you could imagine. The best part about the growth of the web is that becoming knowledgeable on your passion is Free! Take advantage of the valuable content provided by the influencers and companies who have been through the ups and downs and came out on top with strong results. Build your google reader up full of RSS feeds from them and blogs relevant to your brand. Don’t forget your Competitors! Use Twitter search, google search, Technorati search or any of the free search tools to gain insight on what you are trying to build.
Rule #80 – Stop, look, listen. At weddings. In life: This rule could be a pitch for Social Media Monitoring. Taking breaks from twitter and blogging once in awhile can prove to be the most valuable action you can live by. Looking for opportunities throughout the social network can feel overwhelming, and for that reason this industry is buzzing lately. Real-Time feeds are changing the opportunities companies have to capture sales or in the worst case can have your brand fighting for its reputation back. Listening to the chatter is crucial to staying on top of your competitors, saving your name from disaster, and potentially bringing in business. Using fee tools like keyword tracking on platforms like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite work great for twitter but can’t on the bigger scale of the web. Paid tools will cover more space and keep you efficient. I find myself using keyword tracking on the free platforms to engage and Eavesdropper a competitive intelligence tool that scans all social networks to pick up any opportunities that can make a sale or save a negative situation from getting out of control.
Rule #29 – Always be a team player. Everyone needs a little help now and again. Part of Social Media is having as many communication channels on as possible. Sticking one person to cover your web presence is just not going to cut it and can lead to disaster, Ask Cisco. Small or big their is no reason why everyone on your trusted team should be on social networks. Building a successful Social Media campaign is a team game. You cant bring in business if no on can see or hear you. “Think EYEBALLS,” as Gary Vee would say.
Rule #7 – Blend in by standing out: I think this crashers rule is something Seth Godin author of Purple Cow would stand by. If the ultimate goal of Social Media is to build brand awareness how can you possibly do that by looking like everyone else? It’s not enough to go push out the same old. Be bold when tweeting and bring value. No one wants to follow someone who is tweeting the same old everyday with no passion and not engaging with their followers. If you are using decks like Hootsuite or tweetdeck keep a tab open for mentions and get excited about it!
Rule #67 – Mix it up a little. You can’t always be the man with the haunted past: If your simply just out to tweet your message away, endless updates most likely no one cares about, or simply just out to self promote you have lost. Chris Brogan‘s twitter strategy is about engaging as much as possible. He recommends at least 10 @’s for every one tweet! Gary Vee crashes his Fans whenever he enjoys a comment on his Facebook page or just to say a simple thanks for the support. These kind of actions take seconds and shows your followers, fans , and customers they are important. Disqus is a great tool to help manage and track all your commenting. If you have multiple identities on Twitter, blogs , and Facebook you can control all those under one account, keeping you efficient!
Rule #74 – In case of emergency, refer to the rulebook: Some refer to Mashable as the Social Media bible. If you find you need to adjust strategy, pick up some new web tips, or gain insight on topics you lack knowledge, this is the spot. With some of the top writers on the social web you can always learn what is working and with Google and Facebook constantly changing it’s nice to be informed of the new.
Rule #76 – No excuses. Play like a champion.
The Web 2.0 world is giving us countless possibilities to build buzz around our companies, brands, and message. The difference between crashing Social Media with success or getting caught is beating out the self indulged people, having substance that you can build buzz around, be funny, bring value, and most importantly be REAL!
VOTE for this post HERE and win great prizes!
This post is part of the SugarTone: Sweet Business Blogging Contest.
