Social media marketing is a great way to get your company’s name out to a large group of people. It is also a great way to appeal to targeted publics using marketing messages specifically designed to address their unique needs.

But, as with every type of communications media there are some potential drawbacks of using social media to market your company. If you aren’t careful, your organization can be negatively affected by marketing on the wrong social media website or by targeting messages toward the wrong audience.

Cindy Krum of Blue Moon Works gave the good advice to “watch for the woahs of social media marketing,” warning marketers to beware that their brand may be judged by the people affiliated with it. She used the example of Westwood College having friends on MySpace that seemed to be less than desirable applicants.

MySpace is one place where some companies can see real benefits and others see real damage to their reputations. MySpace is great for companies looking to target a younger demographic. It is also great if your organization doesn’t have a particular brand image you are trying to maintain. Still, MySpace may not be the ideal social media website for your company.

MySpace may not be useful for specific kinds of brands. For example, a surgical equipment manufacturer would probably not benefit from MySpace because the site does not cater to the company’s target demographic, doctors. Perhaps WebMD would be a better choice. Also, MySpace may make the company seem less professional if the company attracts friends who are constantly pictured drinking alcohol. On the other hand, MySpace is a great place for microbreweries to market to a large audience. The type of social networks a company should use depend entirely on the company’s goals.

When considering the best social media websites for your organization, you should ask yourself the following questions:

1. What goals am I trying to accomplish? Are you trying to boost traffic, increase sales or generate sign-ups?
2. What demographic do I want to appeal to?
3. What social media websites is this demographic using?

After you determine which social media websites best target the demographic you want to reach, you should create a profile that will resonate with your particular market. Use pictures, give-aways, or unique content customized for this audience to generate interest.  If you do your homework and select the right social media websites, your organization can avoid the potential drawbacks of social media.

Members of social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, and certain blogging communities are not the same as audiences of television or radio.  Yes, the person on Facebook probably owns a television as well, but their expectations and gratifications for using television or Facebook are going to be wildly different.  As such, marketers must take a hyper-focused approach when targeting online communities.  Targeting your message is not enough, targeting your product in relation to the audience you wish to attract is equally important.

It is no revelation that targeting your audience is one of, if not the, most important features of a successful marketing campaign, but social media requires more for at least two important reasons:

1.)    Social media is typically thought of as a “user’s medium” whereas television, radio, and others are typically thought of as an “industry medium.”  What does this mean?  Audiences of television, radio, and other “traditional media” have come to expect advertisements and promotions to be interwoven into the consumption experience.  Social networking, however, is a relatively new form that has not been fully infiltrated and influenced by the marketing industry.  Social media audiences do not expect marketing messages to play as big a role on their websites as on other traditional media.  As such, marketing messages must not only be focused towards the audience, but as Sarah Hofstetter mentions, you must find the right kind of asset to target to these audiences.  Because this is an audience that is not accustomed to the bombardment of marketing messages, the types that do appear will only be affective if the message is well targeted and the product or service that is being presented is also well targeted.

2.)    The social media audience is media savvy – very media savvy.  And several members of social networking sites relish in their ability to negotiate and resist traditional marketing messages.  Trying to develop a successful marketing campaign by simply creating a targeted message will not be enough.  Because of their ability and eagerness to dissect and resist marketing messages, your campaign will be unsuccessful without a product or service that speaks directly to their needs.  This is an age where the audience has been exposed to the gamut of marketing messages, and only those offering assets that speak to their respective values, lifestyles, and attitudes will succeed.

So take into consideration this key point – that the social networking audience has different expectations from their experience than with their television, magazine, or newspaper experience.  This is a medium that has not been fully infiltrated by marketers largely because marketers underestimate the ability and eagerness of this audience to resist targeted messages.  Finding the right product or service that relates to the audience through research is the second, critical element for succeeding in the new media environment.

In a recent interview, online marketing consultant Brent Csutoras gave some advice that all social media marketers should take to heart, don’t rush your social media link bait. Of course, like most things, this is easier said than done. Many of you have been in a situation where you felt you had a great offer or article and set your bait only to face disappointing returns. Even great content can be a let down if you rush to get it in front of the wrong set of eyes.

So how do you ensure that your bait will work? Research. Lots of research. Research should be at the core of every marketing campaign. If you begin your communications efforts by researching your market, you can avoid making mistakes and rushing your social media bait.

To begin you should pick the right community to use. Many social media networking websites provide descriptions of their purpose. These should tell you if the site reaches the type of people you want to reach. If the site does not have a description, explore the site to better understand the common interests of its users.

Once you’ve identified the sites that are most useful to you, spend a good deal of time on each site (or hire someone to do it) conducting your own research. Become familiar with the community. Figure out what appeals to them and how they communicate with each other. Make friends and be social with them. Get a network going and tend to that network. By taking the time to become part of their social networking community, you will be better prepared to create effective social media bait.

During your initial research and experience with the social network website, determine the type of bait that has been successful in the past. What type of message appealed to this particular community? What didn’t work? Make a list of ideas that can be accessed later to help you brainstorm.

Once you have a list of potentially effective ideas, pick the one that seems most valuable to that particular social media network and keep the others for future use. When developing this particular link bait, make sure it’s valuable, that it meets an interest or need. You want to make sure you become a source for quality information, not screaming hype, that way you can build trust and users will respond to your bait in the future. Plus, if you provide quality information, people will link to you. Here are some tips for developing successful content:

• Don’t clutter your site with advertisements. Have a few selected advertisements, but let your content shine.
• Have links to related posts on your site.
• If you’d like them to comment make the RSS features prominent.
• Make sure your article has a title that focuses on the viral point.
• Have a clean description that follows up on the title, but provides more information.

After you develop your link bait, get your friends involved. That’s the benefit of establishing relationships prior to laying link bait. Once people get to know you, they are more likely to be interested in helping you or learning more about you.

Social media websites are not your typical website. Traditional websites have static content that is only updated to meet a particular organizational need. Social media networks are more like living, breathing organisms. They are constantly changing, growing and adapting to users’ interests and concerns. While you may be familiar with social media websites in general, it is important to get experience with a particular social media site before marketing to its community.As I said before, social media networking sites are constantly changing and evolving. That’s because these sites are more like online communities than portals for information. Before you attempt to market your products in one of these social media websites, it’s important that you know as much as you can about who visits each particular site and what their interests are.

To begin, you should brainstorm a list of social media websites that may be good platforms to market your product or service. After you develop this list, make a point to visit and join the social media networking communities that have the potential to help you meet your goals. Once you join these communities, you should collect as much information as you can about the members of these social media networking sites and their interests.

Since research is crucial to an effective targeted marketing campaign, it is imperative that you know as much about the members of each social media networking site as possible before you begin to market your services. Consider the first few weeks that you join a site as time dedicated to research. Below are some questions that may be helpful to ask of each community:

• What are some common characteristics of the members of this social media website?

Are the members all women, small business owners, teens, doctors? Knowing who you are dealing with is critical to developing a targeted marketing message. Small business owners may respond best to a marketing message about a service that promises to improve their bottom line whereas teens may respond best to a message that promises a product will impress their peers.

• What are some common concerns, desires or themes discussed on this social media website?

By closely monitoring a site, you will begin to see patterns in the topics discussed. For example, a group of small business owners may talk about how they wish they knew more about selling their products online. You may notice that in these discussions eBay is frequently mentioned. This could point to a potential opportunity for you to offer customized eBay coaching courses. If you didn’t closely monitor the discussions on the site, you may have missed this common concern and the opportunity it provides.

• How do the members of this social media website communicate with each other?

Do the members use formal or informal language? Is there any jargon or inside terms they use that you should master? Once you get a sense for the tone and content of member communications, you should use the same tone for your communications with them. In other words, if you are on a social networking site for teens and they speak to each other in slang and abbreviations, you should sprinkle in some slang and abbreviations in your messages too.

At first, the recent advice to, “promote yourself, not your product,” when utilizing social media networks seems to go against common sense at first. It seems like you would want to tell everyone about your amazing product or revolutionary service. But, much like those loud salesmen you often find at kiosks in the mall, you too can scare off potential customers by sounding too pushy.

Social media networking sites are not your typical websites. They are more like a busy coffee shop or lounge where friends and acquaintances talk about common interests. No one wants a salesman to interrupt a pleasant conversation. Just like you wouldn’t try to sell your product at a dinner party, you shouldn’t try to sell it on a social media networking site - at least not overtly.

Sure you can talk about your company or organization, but don’t make it the focus of your conversations. Instead, engage others on the network in discussions about their interests. That way you’ll learn more about your potential customers’ interests. Plus, you can make great contacts that can later refer new business to you.

The key to truly engaging in productive conversations with others on social media networks is honesty. Be honest about who you are and who you represent. Make sure the other members of the social media network know that you are there because you have a genuine interest in the group and the topics they discuss. If you sense any measure of distrust, it may help to further explain that you are there to learn and because you yourself find the network personally interesting.

As you begin to make contacts and acquaintances look out for ways you can appeal to them. But, as I said before, be honest. Treat your online relationships as you would your personal face-to-face relationships. As trust builds, those who are interested in your products will come to you, honestly interested.

So, before you engage in “promoting yourself, not your product,” you should consider these tips:

•    Never be too pushy or vocal about your products or services
•    Engage other members in genuine conversations
•    Take note of common concerns and patterns that appear
•    Figure out the things network users find appealing
•    Use insight gained from participation in social media networks to improve your targeted marketing messages
•    Treat online relationships as you would face-to-face relationships
•    Provide a unique product or service to generate buzz, but only for those who express interest
•    Remain aware of the rules for joining social media networks

Just remember, word travels fast on the Internet. Good manners will get you far and help you build a positive reputation. And, a positive reputation is always helpful in boosting sales.