Court the beast before it bites you Sunday, 25th October 2009 Source : Luke Clark at ITB Asia & WIT 2009 – Exclusive

Social media won't be going away any time soon, and there are key ways to engage people within these channels – and certainly some pitfalls to avoid. That's the message to come out today's WIT session, 'Taming The Social Beast'.

The WIT Ideas Lab session was coordinated by Morris Sim, the CEO of Circos.com. "Social media can be a marketer's best friend or worst nightmare," he said. 

The first key was to understand what differentiates your brand, he said, and find out what makes it different. Next, look to content to reach your customer. 

"Use content as your landing lights to your brand," said Sim. 

Another key was to engage people before trying to sell to them. "Think of social media as a courtship. Understand them before you open your mouth to sell." Aligning yourself with other like-minded brands was also useful, he said, in particular those who shared similar brand values. Alliances for instance gave brands more power.

"Create fans, not friends," he stressed. Getting someone to be a 'fan' of your brand on Facebook.com gave you permission to engage a user, he said. It was important to seek and respect this permission, said Sim.

Another key point was that online conversations about your brand would invariably take place. "It's happening, whether you like it or not. But do you want to be in the room when they're talking about you?"

Whether or not you did, responding to negative comments posted on your site was crucial. "You have to respond. You must address it immediately if someone puts a message on your site."