Wednesday, October 22, 2008

3 classes of social media marketing


(image link: Fine Art America)

There are 3 apparent classes of Social Media Marketing


More of a note for future research, it still needs publishing. These are the ones which seem socially acceptable - not the obnoxious ones:
  1. Direct marketing - bookmark tagging (OnlyWire, etc.)
  2. Proxy blogging - mini blogs on free hosts which point back to your linkbait. (Gray Hat)
  3. Comment posting on other's blogs and forums with a link back to your a) website, b) about me page, c) specific permalink that's appropriate.
This is following the traditional marketing rules, more or less - but within social media guidelines.

Outside of those guidelines (and obnoxious):
  • only posting your own blog posts to twitter, friendfeed, facebook, et al.
  • only linking to JV partners or commenting exclusively on their sites
  • only commenting about what you just did recently
  • friending everyone you can and then only posting your own stuff like above - so all your "friends" get from you is how great YOU are.
  • stupidly obvious spammy "SEO" tricks like asking for people to link to you or digg your stuff.
What seems to work best is what used to be called "Good Manners":
  • Helping others first - as Chris Brogan puts it: 12-to-1 ratio of theirs to yours.
  • Really being interested in other people and how they are getting along.
  • Proposing your product as a solution to their problem only in an offhand way, not assertive.
  • Or, better yet, never bringing up what you do at all - but only providing excellent content and great comments on others' sites which forwards the conversation in a sequitur manner and contributes valuable service to that niche community.
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But I imagine you have a better look at this than I do -- what's your take on this?

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