Social media marketing | Liz Hover's Diary of a Web Gal

I was reading about a new tool the other day called Buffer which lets you load up your tweets for the day and automate when they appear.

‘This looks cool. I should check it out,’ I thought to myself.

Somehow I never did because I reminded myself that social media tools aren’t about automation and scheduling – sure plenty of people do it but it feels kind of inauthentic to me.

Just like slot machines, people are always trying to outwit the game – tweet between these times; always make it look like you’re on Twitter; tweet at least three times a day; don’t tweet at 11 a.m. on Tuesday.

Yawn!

Tweet when you damn well want and if you don’t have anything to say for a week, then don’t use Twitter.

I get super irritated by all this scheduling, planning and strategizing. Things really aren’t that difficult. If you have something to say then go online and say it. If you don’t then, read a book.

Absolutely: monitor your social media accounts and respond to folks who are talking to you but I honestly don’t believe in ‘faking’ your online presence. Oh, I’m sure there are folks I follow who do it and I have no idea but it’s not something I would recommend.

The same thing applies to having someone else do your tweeting. It happens but I don’t agree with it.

Use social media tools when you do have the time. Don’t get caught up in the idea that you have to have a 24/7 perfect presence online. Just be normal. Just be human. Please.

I’m not a fan of Lady Gaga’s music.

I’m not entirely sure why I was moved to write this blog post. For some reason I watched an hour-long interview with Lady Gaga filmed recently at Google’s offices in San Francisco and it got me thinking.

Lady Gaga’s videos are pretty popular – Bad Romance is the second most popular YouTube video of all time.

Unsurprisingly she’s also a major search term – people Google her a lot.

And if you’re on Twitter, you’ll know that she’s pretty active there too (over 9 million followers as I write this.)

When I’d finished watching this interview (below) I was left wondering how much of a performance artist she is. I had a hard time believing some of the things she said.

Search Google for photos or videos of Lady Gaga (Stefani Germanotta) in her teens and you’ll find a beautiful young woman – but one who lacks the now trademark avantgarde style.

Yes, she can sing and play piano. Great.

Watch this early video on YouTube. It’s a quite different experience than her slick performances today.

I’d love to know what you think after watching this interview.

Of course there are some wonderful consequences: you’ve seen this video, right? As a Winnipegger, I’m pleased to let Gaga put this Canadian city on the map and make ten-year-old girls happy.

Just watch it. It’s funny.

I’m having a bit of a Polyphonic Spree renaissance today. At the same time I heard something more than a good song.

(The Polyphonic Spree is the last concert I saw in July 2003 before arriving in Canada.)

When it comes to social media marketing we’re expected to be available all the time.

I honestly believe this has to come from a genuine place – YOU have to be online alot. Not your intern. YOU.

And so, during my Polyphonic Spree extravaganza tonight, I was reminded about how thinly we need to spread ourselves today.

Don’t complain. It just IS.

Want to learn more about Twitter, Facebook, search engine optimization, website design and user experience, writing for the web, understanding digital image formats, promoting your social media profiles, blogging, Flickr and RSS feeds?

I have a list of more than 120 free resources that I’ve been building for the past few years. I continue to add to it almost weekly.

It serves as my electronic handout when I do social media presentations but I realised that perhaps some people weren’t aware of it and should be.

Please clear your social calendar for the next six months and make this list your bedtime reading.

—-> 120+ social media marketing resources

I regularly give presentations about using social media.

I talk about making your Twitter, Facebook page or blog a go-to place for useful information.

Smarty pants blogger Martyn Chamberlin, writing a guest post on ProBlogger, has perfectly summed up what I’m getting at.

In Teach or your blog will die, Martyn tells us: ‘Nobody cares who you are, but they love to surf the Internet and learn things. If you’re giving away useful content that creates value for others, they’ll start showing interest in you.’

Head over to ProBlogger to read the full article. And then subscribe to Martyn’s blog Two Hour Blogger to keep reading more of Martyn’s great advice.