1. RSVP To The Best Media Parties in Town

When connecting and forging strong relationships with prospective customers and competitors you need a clear strategy. First decide on which social media sites your business should have a presence. Ask yourself where your customers are likely to hang out and go and meet them there. For example If you are an online entrepreneur or SMB then the Twitter tweeple are most likely your target client. A large multinational could network most effectively on LinkedIn. Don’t go out every night to a different party and burn yourself out. Choose about 3 sites and establish a powerful presence on them all.

2. Dress Appropriately for the Social Occasion

Branding is paramount. You wouldn’t attend a cocktail party in your jeans, so make sure your social media backgrounds, skins and themes are immaculately clothed in your own instantly recognisable and stylish brand. They must contain your logo and tagline, a detailed and interesting bio about you as a person and your business, products and services and links to your website and your other social media sites. Your background picture and information are the equivalent to looking fabulous in your James Bond suit or Little Black Dress. It‘s what attracts people to you when they first see you across a crowded room.

3. Abide by the House Rules - Don’t Anger the Bouncers

Every site has its own regulations. Read them and stick to them. They are there to protect you, your customers and friends and ensure you have a good time without encroaching on anyone else’s fun. If for example, you spam people, write obscenities, use automated adverts or pass off people’s work as your own, potential customers will not like you or your business and the social media sites will suspend or delete your account. This is the virtual equivalent of being hauled outside by an irate bouncer in full view of everyone. The only thing you are connecting with is his fist! Your social media customers will respect you for knowing the rules and abiding by them.

4. Mingle, Connect and be Fabulous

Whenever you interact with friends and customers on social media, engage, entertain, educate and enrich. You should add value to your prospective customers. Keep it interesting by using varied media such as links to videos, blogs, photographs, audio and articles. Make it personal, state your opinion. Show your personality and your brand's; people want to know you before they do business. Don’t use every interaction as an opportunity to sell. You don’t want to be the boring partygoer that everyone hurries to the bar to avoid. But do state one clear call to action every day, for example directing people to your website to sign up. Use humour and build genuine friendships. Above all listen and share other people’s thoughts, paying tribute to them when you do.

5. Don’t be a Social Butterfly - Stay In Touch

To connect successfully with clients you need to be on social media for 45 minutes every day. It may sound a lot, but you’re reaching thousands of potential customers in one go, so it’s worth it. Regular contact forges strong relationships with longevity. Work out when your target market will be online. If they’re in the US it will be at different times from those in Europe. If you sell globally then use one of the free applications that allow you to schedule your updates so you can interact while you sleep. On social media out of sight is out of mind. Don’t be a shrinking violet, be the life and soul of the party!

6. Connecting Your Friends to One Another

Social media is all about networking and connecting. Be generous and introduce your new friends to other people in your network who they may find interesting. When an online friend says they need help with an aspect of their business, recommend someone you know who provides that service and is great at their job. You will have helped two people and brought their services to the attention of everyone else in your network. This generous behavior will be rewarded in kind and will boost your personal and business reputation as a problem solver. If you arrived at your friend’s house party and you didn’t know anyone, wouldn’t you be grateful to him if he introduced you to the funniest, most intelligent and most dynamic people in the room?

7. Invite New People to Join Your Social Media Circle

As in real life, on Social Media people cluster in smaller interest groups and cliques. Pick keywords about your business and use the sites’ search facilities to find updates, groups and pages using them. See who’s shared this content and belongs to these cliques and invite them to be your friends. Broaden your online network by inviting people you know in your real life who aren’t on social media and show them how you are connecting with your customers. You’ll be helping them to promote themselves and you will also have access to all of their business and personal networks and a new group of potential customers. Diversity makes for an even livelier party!

8. Have your Own Media Party and Invite Everyone

You’ve enjoyed everyone’s hospitality. It’s time to return the favour. Implement a clear marketing strategy with exciting initiatives that people want to get involved in. Identify your business goals. If you want to provide better customer service, run a poll asking your friends the best experience they ever had and model the service they received when dealing with your own customers. Offer great giveaways, run competitions with your products as prizes and the winners will tell everyone. These viral games spread the word about your business and set you apart from the competition. Be a fantastic host and you will always be top of everyone’s guest list.

9. What to Do When you Make a Social Faux Pas

Most of us have had a few too many, said the wrong thing or fallen flat on our faces at a party once in our lives. It happens to the best of us. If you send out the wrong information or accidentally email everyone in your address book, don’t sweep it under the carpet like spilt coleslaw, use it to your advantage. First of all admit your mistake, apologise to any injured party and, if appropriate, gently laugh it off. If anyone makes a derogatory comment, reply with dignity. Social media moves fast and as long as you deal with the situation with integrity and good humour your friends will love you for it and your acquaintances will forget about it tomorrow. If on the other hand you panic, grovel or enter into a heated argument, you will be the talk of the party for all the wrong reasons.

10. How Popular Are You on the Social Circuit?

It is a good idea to measure the success of your social media campaign so you can duplicate successful strategies and avoid repeating mistakes. You can use the SM metric software available on the internet but a regularly updated homemade spreadsheet can be just as effective. The elements to measure are traffic, interaction, leads, sales, SEO, customer retention, ROI and profit. Bear in mind that you may not see immediate results. It takes a while for people to get to know you before you become a trusted friend rather than just an occasional acquaintance.