Tips to get the most out of YouTube’s redesign; how Facebook is turning users into Timeline fans; and 3 types of content that’s a slam dunk for your fans.

It’s all in this week’s top five most-clicked links in SmartBrief on Social Media:

• How to build a truly great Facebook tab
• How to set up a social media command post
• Facebook courts Timeline skeptics with custom movies
• 3 kinds of content people always love to share
• How to take advantage of YouTube’s redesign

Image credit: narvikk, via iStockphoto

This post is by Heidi Cohen, principal of Riverside Marketing Strategies.

Marketers are afraid of making social media mistakes. Even worse, they’re concerned their social media faux pas will balloon into a public relations nightmare. Get over it! In today’s always-on, connected world, issues can arise whether you’re participating in social media or not. So be a part of the conversation and engage, because when you have a problem, it’s too late to build your base. (And of course make sure that you have PR crisis plan ready!)

Here are seven common social media mistakes marketers make and how to fix them.

1. Fail to show respect for others on social media. Take a lesson from the Godfather because social media runs on old-fashioned good manners. Just because you work for a large company doesn’t mean that social media participants will automatically listen to you. Remember they’re thinking WII-FM (What’s in it for me?). Further, just enticing them with a special offer may not cause them to stay longer than necessary to make the purchase.

Actionable social media marketing fix: Listen to what your customers and the public are saying on social media platforms and respond where appropriate. To this end, it’s helpful to use social media monitoring products and to have customer service representatives prepared to respond via these channels.

2. Use sanitized corporate-speak on social media platforms. Social media requires a human presence. The absence of anything sounding remotely human, such as in one-way, one-to-many message broadcasting, hurts your organization. It means you’re only talking about your company and products. This me, me, me syndrome is how marketers miss the boat on social media.

Actionable social media marketing fix: Before pushing out your business-focused messages, listen to the conversation and realize it’s multidirectional, including many-to-many at the same time. Inwardly focused messages about your organization tend not to be where the interest and power are on social media platforms. Instead actively participate. The bottom line is you need to be and sound human! Consider what you can do for others. (read more…)

SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Social Media — tracks feedback from leading marketers about social media practices and issues.

This week, we asked: Do you tie your social media marketing efforts into your traditional marketing campaigns?

• Sometimes: 44.3%
• Always: 41.61%
• My brand doesn’t use social media marketing: 6.71%
• Never: 4.7%
• My brand doesn’t use traditional marketing: 2.68%

(read more…)

As a financial-services company that sells annuities, Lincoln Financial Group is not necessarily known as a “fun” brand. So when the company’s marketing team set out to launch the “You’re in Charge” campaign, it took an all-inclusive approach with a focus on building a brand that is relevant and relatable.

The first step in the “You’re in Charge” campaign was introducing employees to the concept so that each employee could be an ambassador of the company. Employee “activation” is crucial, said Jamie DePeau, corporate chief marketing officer for Lincoln Financial, because employee engagement comes first in any campaign. Without buy-in from those supporting the organization, any campaign effort will ultimately fail. (read more…)