Even if you are familiar with the term social networking, do you know what it means and understand everything it entails? Every day you hear about major brands and big name companies succumbing to this new form of advertising. How are they doing it and is it working?

We’re all familiar with the most popular websites for social networking, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and now Twitter. The key to social marketing is to remember that it should be used as a two way communication street. No one wants marketing messages being constantly blasted directly at them. Keep these principles in mind when starting out:

1. Be authentic and human. Feel free to share fun and entertaining info, and even some annoying aspects of your workday. Tell people about your latest big event, or complain about the weather. Anything that opens up a chance for conversation. Just stay away from things that would paint a negative or derogatory image of your brand.
2. Be consistent and choose the right networks. Just like in high school, you didn’t feel the need to be friends with every single clique. Find the ones that make the most sense for your business and your consumers. And remember to keep the same messaging and personality across each network. You shouldn’t be reinventing your marketing approach specifically for online traffic. Stay consistent with the values and principles of your business.
3. Set realistic goals and measure your progress. Don’t make it all about the numbers, but more about making an impact. You want your customers to feel like they have a connection with you, and ideally you want them to include their friends into your clique. That means that you will have to put some time into this venture. Don’t start off hot and heavy and then let your communications dwindle.

If you’re interested in starting a campaign, the best advice we can give is to jump right in. In the beginning it might be a slow process, but the more time you put into it the more it will pay off for you.