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.

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Word of mouth has always been the most effective form of marketing and advertising. Today it’s word of mouse. Never before has there been a more potent opportunity to track, listen to and communicate with green consumers. Even more amazing there are legions of Influencers out there who are speaking about what you make and what you do.

Are you listening in? Monitoring their blog? And their tweets on Twitter? If you’re not, you should be. Once you know what they’re thinking and what they’re saying you can reach out to them. If it’s positive, give them heartfelt thanks and appreciate their efforts on your behalf. If it’s negative, communicate with them and let them know you appreciate their concerns and are working to rectify them. Word of mouse is a powerful thing.

To prove the point, just a couple of weeks ago two Domino’s pizza employees posted a video on You Tube of them spitting in a pizza (and doing other nasty things). The ripples went out faster than a case of swine flu. Within hours, thousands and thousands of people downloaded that video which put the international pizza delivery chain in crisis. Imagine that. That’s how fast a situation can be spread by the click of a mouse.

On a more positive note, Blendtec, a company that makes super duper blenders at a super duper price ($399.00 and up), created an “extreme blending” video series called “Will it Blend?” and posted it on video-sharing sites like You Tube. The first five videos cost $50.00 to make. Imagine that.

One particular video featured a bright and shiny new iPod being pulverized by a well used Blendtec blender. When the company posted a link on Digg after setting up the video on their site, it spread like wildfire which soon led to appearances on The Today Show and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Soon the views for Blendtec’s video series reached 60 million and increased their sales by 20%.

As some traditional media loses its audience and its clout, social media is the way to go. It’s not only cost effective, its brand effective. It’s a new world out there, use it or lose it.

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