Best Practices in Social Media: Tell a Story

While many brands still struggle with social media, there is certainly a maturity entering the market with some sophistication in the consumer, corporate and agency spaces. Mitch Joel over at Six Pixels of Separation kicked off a meme around best practices in social media which, I am sure, will capture some of the lessons learned over the last few years, often by trial and error (or by flame and terror). Sound advice has come, so far, from:

• Consistency (Mitch Joel)
• Embrace your audience (Jason Falls)
• Listen and add value (Kipp Bodnar)
• Listen (Chris Brogan)
• Be human (Kristie Wells)
• Reach out to others (Morriss Partee)
• Honesty and respect (Paisano)
• Watch what people actually do (Liz Strauss)
• Provide a platform (Beth Harte)

Drew McLellan, added to this list by explaining that you can't go wrong when you lift up others! He tagged Mike Sansone, Roberta Rosenberg, John Rosen,  David Reich and me.

My best practice is: tell a story.

While this sounds simple, it can be challenging -- and easily forgotten in the rush to post your latest thoughts. But pause for a moment. Consider your audience. You can add significant value by taking the time to frame a blog post, a video or podcast. Remember, we connect with and through stories. Be generous enough to share yours with us all.

Now it is your turn to share a best practice. If you don't have a blog, leave a comment below.

1. Blog it or add it to the comments here.
2. Link to Mitch’s blog
3. Tag it “social media marketing best practices project”
4. And then tag someone else with the meme.

I tag Julian Cole, Mark Hancock, Tim Brunelle, Charles Frith and Adrian Ho.