Plenty of companies want to get on board the social media bandwagon, and it’s very easy to see why. People trust social media in a way that they don’t trust company websites, and much of the sales work is happening on social networks and not on your section of the web. The thing is, there is a right way and a wrong way to go about interacting with social media and traditional businesses are really struggling with doing it the right way. All too often we have people asking us to bombard Facebook with discount codes, post a PowerPoint presentation on YouTube, or start chatting about your awesome cheap holidays on forums. Wrong, wrong and very wrong.

Here’s the three rules you should always bear in mind when entering the reward-laden minefield of social media… it’s only dangerous if you tackle it wrong:

The absolute biggest mistake we see time and time again is folks heading into social media pretending to be a consumer with no hidden agenda. This is not only against the law these days, it’s also an incredibly risky tactic for the embarrassment factor.  If you head straight on and say “Hi guys, I just had an amazing holiday with www.yourcompany.com”, you’re not only going to be obviously a marketer, but worse, a marketer who treats his potential customers like simpletons. Give full disclosure, admit your ties and allegiances, and you’ll begin to gain respect and avoid any embarrassing slip ups (and there have been plenty of examples of these). True, there will be some who instantly distrust you because of this, but the nature of social media is that not everyone gets along, and those on the fence can be brought around by our other suggestions…

Y’see, the flipside to you being a filthy marketer is that you also know a hell of a lot more about, say adventure holidays in Africa, than the rest of the community. So start putting that knowledge to good use! Help people out – suggest places they must visit, what they should pack, local customs – all kinds of things that make you a useful part of the community. Suddenly, your corporate connections go from being your Achilles’ Heal to your greatest strength.

But what benefit is there in giving away free advice?  “What’s in it for me?” I hear you cry – which is so against the spirit of social media, but nonetheless: the answer is that people do remember their friends in this, and do have loyalties to those who have helped. If you are Mr X of Africa Adventures, and you offer them advice then you are pretty likely to be their first choice when they’re looking into backpacking in Africa. But here’s the key point: don’t force it. Don’t overtly brag about your best deals and aggressively link to your products. A simple link in your profile or signature is all that you need, and is a nice subliminal way of winning the customer without turning them off via the old ways of marketing. It’s a long term game, but it promises big wins in the end.

Yeah, you want to be a regular member of the community, but don’t forget you’re trying to be an ambassador for your company. So don’t get into flame wars, don’t be aggressive, rude or irritating. Be polite, friendly and join in the banter and slowly you will become a respected community member and an expert on your niche – the sales should follow.

The truth is there are no hard and fast rules for social media, which is why these rules are so subjective and open to interpretation. One thing’s for sure though, you have to have fun and be a part of the community to make headway – and if that means going against your company’s refunds policy to show your phenomenal customer service to a noisily disgruntled customer then so be it – it’s the Web 2.0 way!