7 Fundamental Laws of Social Media Marketing

While social media marketing has only been present in the digital industry in the last decade, there is no doubt that it has elevated the process of marketing and that it presents such a close, true and better view of one’s targeted audience and customer base.

You might just be getting acquainted with how social media marketing works. Like most industries, taking the basic rules or fundamentals to heart builds the right foundation in getting started and becoming an expert.

Knowing (and applying) these seven fundamental laws of social media marketing to your business will not only undoubtedly serve your audience better, amplify your brand and ultimately increase your bottom line, it will also make them (your customers) stay.

7 Classic Laws of Social Media Marketing

What you need to remember about social media marketing is in its very name. It is social – it is made up of relationships, between you and your customer base, between you and your potential audience and ultimately between you and the (online) world.

Social relationships are at the very core of these laws. These laws serve to strengthen the very purpose of social media marketing – build, strengthen and engage in social relationships.

1. The Law of Listening

It’s a common misconception that social media marketing needs to be all talk to be effective - that you need to post more, be present in all social channels,and make “noise”. The truth is, successful social media marketing requires you to listen more and talk less.

What sets social media apart is that it’s interactive. In no other medium can you interact with your audience almost real-time and exclusively. This is why instead of doing all the talking (monologue), we should be communicating (dialogue). Communication is a two-way street. You need to listen so you can talk.

Listen first to your target audience. Join discussions and engage them to find out what is important to them. This gives you clarity that will help you create content that adds value and not just “noise” online.

2. The Law of Focus

It’s easy to try and become the Jack of All Trades but Master of None. It’s tempting to spread your focus thinly to capture as large an audience as possible but the key to having an effective and successful social media marketing strategy is to focus on one key area – whether it be a targeted audience, a specific campaign or even a single channel.

Identify your niche then target your demographic target. Find your voice. Plan your strategy around these key areas.

3. The Law of Quality or Value

By applying the Law of Focus, you will also be honing in on the third law – the Law of Quality.

Quality trumps quantity every time. It is better to have a hundred followers who are actively engaged and loyal to your brand than a thousand who don’t even interact with your business.

The same applies to the content you put out online. Remember to always add value to content, conversations and relationships.

This holds true even when it comes to building networks within social media. It would only need a few but very good influencers or brand advocates to elevate your brand to a better platform or a bigger audience.

4. The Law of Compounding

When you regularly put out quality work to your targeted (focused) online audience, they are more likely to share it with their own audience and that’s where compounding comes in. Very much like investing in the right market, interest rates are more likely to double or triple. The key here is to make sure you apply laws 2 (focus) and 3 (quality/value) consistently.

5. The Law of Patience

As we have mentioned, social media marketing is all about relationships. Building one takes time, even if social media lets you reach a vast number of people and communicate with them easily. As it is in all aspects of life, success doesn’t happen overnight. Be patient.

6.  The Law of Accessibility

Social media’s greatest advantage is its interactivity. Don’t be a one-way street, just publishing content to your audience. Be available to them, respond to them, and interact with them.

Be part of conversations. Conversations are crucial in building relationships, and important not to make mistakes, or build up and learn from them.

7. The Law Acknowledgement and Reciprocity

Since relationships are the core of social media marketing, anything that builds this is important. Therefore, acknowledgement and reciprocity are important.

Acknowledge your audience. You can’t expect others to do what you don’t do for them, so take time to share content from other brands/people and talk about them as well.

If you think about it, these laws are very basic and are what you easily apply in real life relationships. However, these can be easily forgotten when you try to build a community haphazardly without pausing to paint what bigger picture you have for your business or brand. Audiences easily become just numbers and part of a statistic too instead of being people you need to build relationships with.

Keep these laws in mind and never forget what social media’s purpose is all about: connecting people and building social relationships.