The buzz over social media and its benefits is overwhelming and somewhat misleading from an outsider’s point-of-view. There is a common misconception that once a business creates a profile on a social media site, they are finished. They are quite mistaken. Social media is not that simple; it takes time and patience to create healthy buzz for a business to have a truly successful social media campaign.

The nature of the Internet beast is that ‘faking’ an authentic business is pretty difficult. Consumers are able to see right through the fake. Consumer demands have brought businesses to their toes and are expecting them to show authenticity in other ways than just promoting an ‘authentic’ business.

According to leading social media expert, Ted Rubin, the key to reaching a target market is through a social media strategy focused on building a relationship. He coined the term ROR, Return on Relationship, which is the foundation for an active and engaged marketplace.

How do you build these relationships? Well, time is a key factor in any successful relationship. And it goes without saying that honesty, loyalty, trust, recommendations and sharing go a long way in building recordable relationships. Rubin has a few helpful tips to have businesses on their merry way to social media stardom.

For starters: Be Real!

Since followers see through the fake, create honest conversation with your market and allow for both good and bad feedback.

Take Care of your Followers:

Word-of-mouth is the most powerful marketer of all. Take care of those who support you because you never what they could be saying about your business.

Refer Back to Contacts:

The biggest mistake a business can make is not following up with friendships that have been made. A simple connection could turn into a slew of different connections. Keep track of the people you have met and be sure to keep them updated in the future on your current state of business. Be genuinely interested in keeping your ‘friendly’ following informed on what’s ahead for your business!

Rubin has certainly laid out the basics for social media ventures. Knowing where (and how) to start is the difficult part. If you don’t have the social media expertise, obtaining help may be in order. That’s where we come in…

At Catchfire Creative, we have the knowledge and expertise required to create a successful, social media campaign.