SmartBlogs on Social Media

??Any good marketer can write great copy and buy advertising to get a message out there. But a social media marketer has to depend on the trust and respect of the community of fans to spread content.

If you don’t have this trust, you don’t have a chance. And what builds trust is a dedication to honesty and ethics in social media.

In my speech at BlogWell, I talked about what it takes to do this at your company. The good news: Disclosure doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are the three elements all disclosures should include:

• Who are you? What’s your true identity? Do you work for the company? Do you work for their agency? Did you sign up for a program? There’s no wrong answer, but readers need to understand the relationship.
• Were you paid? Did you get money? Did you get a free sample? A trip? A loan of an expensive item? Samples and freebies are fine; you just need to make sure readers understand any financial incentives behind the content.
• Is it an honest opinion based on a real experience? This goes beyond social media: If someone writes and endorsement for you and they never actually used your product, that’s just plain, old-fashioned false advertising.

And if you like this presentation, be sure to check out our upcoming BlogWell events in New York and Washington, D.C.