If Facebook where a country, it would be the 3rd largest in the world, population-wise that is. It now surpasses the population of the United States — men, women and children. That’s a lot of eyeballs. So if your marketing mix doesn’t include the Big Four (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube), you are going to have to peddle pretty fast to catch up in the coming years (months, really).

To help you put your social media stake in the ground, here are some insights that will help you get your stake sharpened.

Don’t start unless you have a plan. Why exactly are you getting into social media anyway? Too often I see companies jump in with a Facebook fan page and no real plan. Then they flounder around for a while until one day they scratch their business heads and say, “What exactly are we suppose to be doing? What are we going for here?” So first assess your needs, then figure out your short and long term goals and create a social media strategy, and plan of action to meet them. Marketing is marketing.

One toe first. If you are just beginning with social media marketing, pick one channel first and work it. When I first started with Twitter, I spent a month or two just listening to tweets and watching trends. I followed some of the social media rock stars (and met some of them too at digital conferences) and carefully examined their conversations –  what they were saying, and why they were saying it. Very enlightening. I saw what worked and what didn’t, and I followed and unfollowed some tweeters regularly. Before I knew it, I was being followed back regularly. Which brings me to the next point…

Content is still king (or queen, in my case). Creating and sharing great content will always rule in social media. I have been hearing this for years, and yes, it’s still true. Whatever your business is, make it a priority to religiously deliver compelling content and I promise, your fans and followers will come back for more (and tell all their friends too). To develop great content, brainstorm subject ideas, follow trends in your industry, set up Google Alerts with targeted keywords that pertain to your business and interests, and follow other people or businesses that have something relevant to say. Watch what gets tweeted, liked and passed on. See my Facebook fan page Women Of Green to see what I mean. It’s a mix of original content, inspirational quotes, relevant news stories and great conversations around the subject of women and sustainability. By doing this, we very quickly became a “go to” place. You can too.

Serve, don’t sell. Nothing will turn off a follower or fan more than an overt advertising pitch or sales talk. It’s no mistake that social media has the word “social” in it. It’s about creating relationships. It’s about engaging your friends and fans. It’s about helping. It’s about serving. If that doesn’t sound like marketing-as-usual, it isn’t. That’s why you need to listen first. It’s a whole new world out there. Now, that doesn’t mean you cannot make an offering now and then. Businesses do it all the time. But remember, it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it (as my mom would say).

Mix business with pleasure. What I mean by this is show your fans who you really are. Let your personality shine through. What are you interested in besides the product or service you sell? Share that. Social media is about human beings, not corporations or machines. Even Dell knows that. Their Twitter guy is Jim, and people love him. When Dell customers have a problem or an issue, “Jim at Dell” has been known to stay up in the wee hours of the morning handling it. And he does it with all of the love in his heart. Really. I met Jim at a conference. I could tell.

Consistency is the name of the game. There is nothing worse than starting a blog or creating a Twitter account and then stopping after a few months. It sends a message that you are either not committed or not up on your industry or business. In my opinion, it’s better not to begin at all than begin and stop mid-stream. So if you can’t commit fully to your plan, don’t do it –  or get help. If you chose the latter, social media managers or assistants can help you create a presence, build a network and keep you on track. Shameless plug: call me if consistency or stage fright is creeping up for you. I will help you build it, and they will come.

Got an insight you’d like to share?

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Joel Makower of GreenBiz.com just declared that green marking is dead, or in his words, “Green Marketing is Over.”  To quote Mark Twain, “The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”  I think the same can be said of green marketing.

Here at Mind Over Markets, we’ve been saying for years that green marketing messages have not been communicated correctly and effectively right from the start.

The first task of green marketing, like all other marketing, should be an analysis of benefits. First to the consumer, and then to the planet. Too many opted for the latter, save the planet, as though you could with your cleaners and your pizzas. That never made any sense to me and it never will.

When Nissan Leaf used a polar bear hugging a man in their commercial instead of laying out the many advantages of EV’s to me and my life, when they don’t position their vehicles as personal benefit producers, when they don’t tell me what’s in it for me, then yes, green marketing is over.

When organic food isn’t positioned as better for your health, better tasting, fresher, more local and ultimately more enjoyable, no wonder it’s hard to justify the higher costs. The success of Whole Foods is probably based more on their gourmetness than on their greenness. They have the recipe right and continue to succeed.

The last time I saw a green marketing obituary it was centered on the failure of Organic Ragu Sauce. As though any organicite or foodie was going to buy Organic Ragu or Organic Heinz Ketchup.  That wasn’t a failure of green, but a failure of logic. When the largest manufacturers of caustic and corrosive cleaning solutions suddenly turns green, its no wonder that consumers scratch their heads and wonder if it’s real or just a mask.

When Kimberly Clark tells us they they’ve done “green right” instead of telling us that recycled paper is a better, saner way to make napkins and toilet paper than destroying old growth forests, no wonder we yawn and walk away.

To my mind, it’s not the failure of green marketing, but the failure of green marketers to have thought it out long enough and strategically enough to hire true green marketers and visionaries who actually understand not just the heart of green consumers, but the minds of the greater population.

Instead they wheeled out Kermit the Frog and melting icebergs. They should have been selling their products to me instead of making my purchases seem like a cause, charity, public service or a sacrifice that I have to make. By the way, you can’t actually save the planet all by yourself.

Talk about naive. At a time when people aren’t sure they can save themselves, much less the planet, is it any wonder that kind of thinking or marketing is on the endangered species list?

What’s saddest of all is that all the so called “green experts” failed in their expertness when they didn’t alert marketers that they were on thin ice right from the beginning. When they didn’t understand the balance of message, the need for benefits, and the need to tell consumers that they were not only doing what was right, but what was smart.

It really is a shame that the lemmings will watch the green hearse go by and help drive green even further off the cliff. That others will continue to not only sell, but tell things wrong and then lament the passing of one of the most significant opportunities to actually make things better for all of us.

– Irv Weinberg

Read what Jacqui Ottman says in her post “Green is Alive and Kicking”.

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A new study by the leading sustainability consultancy OglivyEarth “Mainstream Green: Moving sustainability from niche to normal” provides new insight on how to close the Green Gap that persists between what consumers say and what they actually do around sustainable living. The study notes several imperative steps to allow green purchasing practices to enter the mainstream. These are some of the highlights:

Make it Normal: The great Middle Green is not looking to set themselves apart from everyone else. They want to fit in. When it comes to driving mass behavior change, marketers need to restrain the urge to make going green feel cool or different, and instead make it normal.

Eliminate the Sustainability Tax: The high prices of many of the greener products suggest an attempt to limit or discourage more sustainable choices. Eliminating the price barrier eliminates the notion that green products are not for normal citizens.

Make Eco-friendly Male Ego-friendly: Sustainability must strike a chord with male consumers by considering what works in traditional marketing. For example, automotive brands with alternative fuel vehicles are finding success by sticking to what has been shown to work — sleek ads with an emphasis on speed and design.

Lose the Crunch: Just because a product is green doesn’t mean it must be packaged in burlap. For green marketing to succeed, it must be liberated from the traditional stereotypes to emphasize the most compelling personal benefits.

Hedonism over Altruism: The emotional tenor of sustainable marketing to date has been focused on appeals to Americans’ altruistic tendencies, but our research shows that this is to deny human nature. Wise brands are tapping into enjoyment over altruism.

Do you have other ideas about how to use purchasing power for sustainability and the way to take green spending habits mainstream? Please share them below!

Listen to Carolyn’s interview with Simran Sethi on the Psychological Barriers to Going Green. Eye-opening!

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