Social media is in the process of rewriting many marketing textbooks and is being hastily added to the curriculum of many business-oriented schools of education, complete no doubt with many footnotes, asterisks, disclaimers and question marks. A business must be involved with social media, but the question is to what extent. Further, what level of risk is acceptable when entering such virgin territory?

It would seem that there is a lot more to gain than there is to lose when you consider whether to entertain a social media campaign, so long as you exercise a modicum of common sense. A lot of the well known pitfalls experienced by some premier brands could have been avoided with a little introspection.

So what are some of the pitfalls for you to avoid?

1. Avoid controversy.

Some people advocate that to make a wave in the vast social media ocean you need to be controversial to stand out. What you need to realize is that your energy wave creation could become a tsunami of controversy. The same element that makes social media such a tempting proposition could also work against you by creating substantial negative press that you can do nothing about.

2. Avoid spreading muck.

This follows along with the previous point to a certain extent and underlines why you should put some of your best marketing brainpower behind a social media campaign. Don’t be tempted to become a shock jock or openly criticize other competitors in an attempt to gain an edge, as no matter how subtle you try and how many “smoke and mirror” campaigns you dream up, this approach will backfire and hurt you more.

3. Avoid “puffery.”

This colorful word describes the act of blowing your own trumpet or aggressively talking up your brand or product, maybe under a disguise created for the purpose. Be careful that your IP address or e-mail cannot be traced back, allowing people to “out” your efforts!

4. Avoid being vanilla.

Again this comes back to creativity. Don’t expect a great result just by setting up pages, profiles or accounts. You must have a good “hook” and have a policy and strategy to update and create meaningful content.

5. Don’t shoot first and ask questions later.

It may be easy to imagine the social media environment as a “wild west” of sorts, where pretty much anything goes as we are all in uncharted territory. Don’t make the mistake of unloading your shotgun of poorly formed thoughts, questionable tactics or competitor onslaughts without fear of a reprise. You may well not be able to put the fire out.

6. Don’t bite off the hand that feeds you.

Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms are really valuable assets and you should treat them accordingly. Always be aware of their terms of service and never do anything to make them turn the focus of attention on you.

7. Don’t delegate and forget.

This will require your best brains, as we have already said twice. For veteran marketers the whole concept can be difficult to conceive, but don’t be tempted to delegate to junior IT people, rather make it a think tank approach.

8. Don’t forget how visible you could be.

When you enter the world of social media, you may encounter a visibility that you are not prepared for. Remember that to a certain extent it is a commenting free for all and you need to be constantly aware of what is being said about you, within your pages and “retweeted.”

What is your best tip?

Matthew Toren

Have you ever heard the term “snake oil salesman?” This refers to the practice of trying to bombard someone with hype in order to get to lower all your natural defenses, so that you purchase a product or service that you might otherwise not have considered. This kind of approach goes back hundreds of years and has been partly responsible for developing a typical consumer’s distrust for salesmen of any kind. Very few people like the hard sell approach and most often run the other way from it. As a web-based sales person, why would you consider taking that stance when you design your website?

One of the primary challenges of Internet marketing in general is that you do not have the option of being able to look a customer in the eye and engage him or her with a handshake. This traditional means of interaction can often help to build a bond of trust between two individuals and can often lead to the consummation of a sale. The challenge facing the webmaster is to reproduce this element of trust virtually and every word that you write on your website goes a long way toward or against this goal.

If you listen to so called copywriting “gurus,” some of them will tell you that you have to be hard-hitting and that you have to be very graphic with your examples and use a lot of hyperbole. Yet we are seeing a definite trend away from this, especially as the social media phenomenon takes hold and becomes an integral part of Internet marketing. Now, more than ever, it is necessary to establish a process of trust before anyone is likely to buy something from your website.

To be as effective as possible, the website of today must strike a fine line between technical optimization and personal appeal. We all know that it is necessary to structure a site so that the search engine robots can determine, according to the algorithms, that the site falls into a certain subcategory or niche and is appropriate for distribution through associated channels. However, it should never be obvious to the web visitor that the site has been optimized in this way. Long gone are the days when you could simply insert “long tail” keywords to an excess density. You must include your appropriate keywords, but you must focus equally as well on secondary keywords or appropriate words and phrases from an SEO perspective. What this boils down to is simply writing educational, informative, enlightening and entertaining material, to give the visitor a real sense that they are spending their time wisely by staying on your page and reading the content.

As you establish trust through gentle repetition or endorsement, the visitor will feel more inclined to consider purchasing from you. Web copy that is sensational and designed to bully somebody into purchase will likely not work for you. Avoid copy modifiers that are designed to overstress certain points and remember to talk on an “adult” to “adult” basis, rather than if you were a “parent” talking to a “child!”

How have you established trust with your consumers?

Matthew Toren

In last week’s Entrepreneur Poll results I asked you What Was The Best Thing You’ve Ever Done For Your Website? The number one answer was focusing in on Social Networking and Social Media Marketing.

Using Twitter was a popular choice for many of our readers so this week our new Young Entrepreneur poll is:

What is the best way to build your business through Twitter?

Many entrepreneurs are just coming on to the service and have no idea how to use it. What strategies are working for you? How do you use your time on Twitter to build connections and grow your business?

I would love to hear your thoughts so we can build a list of best practices for other young entrepreneurs to follow.

Please post a comment with what you’re doing on Twitter to build your business and stay tuned for the results!

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Evan Carmichael