1.    Build relationships first — they’re called social media for a reason. You can sometimes work in a “call to action,” but make sure you’re very subtle about it. “You must add value to the experience,” says Eyal. “You have to give the user something that’s valuable if you want them to give back to you.”
2.    Rethink your product or service, if not your entire brand, to make it more exciting for people to watch and follow. Eyal suggests that advertisers “sit down and figure out why people buy the product.” With method, AdNectar’s cleaning products client, people buy not just cleaning, but the environmental angle, according to Eyal. “So we made messages that have an environmental angle and are inherently giftable. In another case, we saw people giving virtual boxes of chocolate. After we added the name, people gave their friends 1.2 million virtual boxes of Godiva chocolate. Getting branded impressions and individual endorsements like that, the brand benefits greatly.”
3.    Fight any internal pressures to use social media for hard-sell pitches; this is a place for the soft sell. People want to feel like they’re a part of something. Make your audience feel so involved that they don’t feel they’re being sold. Never go with a “buy now” message. Instead, be more suggestive than commanding. Your goals need to be very clear.
4.    Spend more time listening than talking. People come to social media because they’re interested in each other, and they want to see what their friends are contributing. When brands pull people away from focusing on their friends, they generate a backlash. You want to win over fans, break down resistance, and create community. Before you can sell anything, you have to create movements around the brand and the product. Good brand awareness and reputation provide huge advantages.
5.    Maintain as much transparency as possible. Today’s consumers are skeptical about messages coming across their screens, and they respect authenticity and honesty. For some, especially smaller companies, it makes sense to have one dedicated social networking person who is the voice of the company. For others, it’s better to reveal the depth and breadth of the people in the organization.
6.   Earn your audience’s loyalty and endorsements. Recognize that within social media, each person sends a product endorsement only when it’s deserved, and will tell a friend about your product only when they perceive the friend is receptive. That’s usually an ideal combination for an advertiser. Strive to be worthy, and you will build a loyal audience.
7.   Be nimble and quick without being hurried or harried. It’s no longer enough to conceive a launch for your campaign. You must also monitor, react, and respond in real time to the public’s reactions and counter-initiatives. Think in terms of a marathon, not a sprint. Take your time to learn how your audience reacts to various messages, and feed that back into the creative process.
8.    Customer service goes on 24/7. You can’t afford to leave anyone underserved or disgruntled for very long. Mark Twain famously said, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” Within today’s social media, marketers can no longer afford to allow any negative information that kind of head start.
9.    Your creative is even more important within social media. If you can capture the imagination and interest of your audience, you can give your message extremely long legs. According to Marmelo, “There are certain things that can be replicated across the board. But because each business is different and has a different target market, in social media you approach things and phrase things without a template.” You want to find the language your audiences are eager to hear.

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