Digital marketers warned of worst social media practices

14:15 23rd February 2010

Digital marketers have been advised how not to implement a strategy involving social media websites.

Some of the tips include not letting past bad experiences of using social media put you off and ensuring the company is engaging with people rather than just using the sites as a way to distribute information.

Digital marketing specialist Joshua Titsworth stated in an article for Search Engine Journal that not listening to the audience and using polls and surveys to find out what they are thinking about a product or service was a bad idea.

He said companies could ask guest authors to write posts for their social media channels or use the websites to post successful case studies of their work.

Mr Titsworth said, with his tongue firmly in his cheek: "Don't post comments on other blogs, fan pages or re-tweet appropriate tweets.

"You are the reason people get online, after all since you are a big business in real life everyone will know who you are online as well."

Ivan Croxford, general manager of BT Business, said in a recent article for online business resource Fresh Business Thinking that companies should integrate social media into their digital marketing campaigns.

He said audiences need to respect their audience in order to gain respect from them in return.