A smart social networking marketing strategy will try to get the most impact from the least output in the shortest amount of time. That after all is the very definition of viral marketing - and that is quite exactly how people use social network tools today. It's all about being first, fast, fabulous, famous, and fashionable. Getting ahead with a good social networking marketing strategy takes advantage of all these societal desires and makes use of automation tools to get there (wherever "there" happens to be at the right moment) first.
How to Develop a Winning Strategy on Social Networks
Having a winning strategy on the top social networks means getting on top of the current events and staying relevant to whatever topic is hot. If there is an issue that is important to your readers / customers, you need to have a good grasp on your position and get it out there without being unnecessarily controversial. In most cases this means taking a conservative position and let the more foolish people duke it out. Most of your customers won't care if you're conservative - you stand to lose more by being controversial. You may pick up some brownie points and fans along the way, but followers and fans more often than you think are lurkers not buyers.
So how should this impact your strategy? You still need to have all the right social network automation tools in place to keep all your web 2.0 accounts updated. But it is wise to take careful stock of current events before putting your foot in your mouth all over the top social networks. So that means be relevant, be timely, and remain relatively conservative - because we've all seen in that last year how much damage social networks can do to brand image when combined with thoughtlessness.
