Four Constants in Social Media Marketing

It has been a true pleasure working this past week with the lovely Hilary Hausman as she ramps up her social media marketing activities to support her position as a residential real estate professional specializing in the Bethesda, Maryland market.

You can now find Hilary on Twitter, as well as in the blogosphere at At Home in Bethesda. 

For the better part of the past four years my social media consulting work has been focused in the corporate market.  I've been fortunate enough to help develop and execute campaigns on behalf of prestigious and sophisticated brands like Microsoft, EMC, Cisco, NeuStar, Monster, British Telecom (BT), Sun Microsystems and BearingPoint.

Yet, there's a unique reward that comes from helping an entrepreneur incorporate social media into the promotion of a new venture.  This is especially true when you also happen to be married to the entrepreneur.

The foundation for social media success and a measurable ROI remain constant though, regardless of whether its a multi-national corporation or an individual real estate professional.

1.  Start with a strategy that is well aligned with overall goals.

2.  Integrate with the sales process from day one.

3.  Publish content that engages, educates and entertains.

4.  Merchandise that content across multiple social networks and online communities, tying everything to organic search engine optimization.