Social media marketing requires a shift from typical marketing mindsets and this can oftentimes be the most crucial step in being able to develop and commit to social media success. The typical marketing mindsets are all about treating consumers as targets to be interrupted and messaged at. Some people have referred to this as the megaphone approach but you could also look at it as shooting at your audience even though you know most of them are wearing bullet-proof vests. The social media marketing mindset has to be about creating magnetism and attraction around your communications. There are 5 essential pillars to this mindset that will support you in this effort.

•Transparency: Do not attempt hide behind contrivance or artifice.
•Honesty: Trust that authenticity has great value and that dishonesty will surely undermine trust.
•Relevance: Place the consumer or user at the center of your communications and create content that puts their needs first.
•Value: Along with relevance, content that adds value to the lives of the audience is crucial.
•Commitment: It is fine to try some ideas and then make course corrections to others but if you jump in and out of social media tactics looking for quick hits you will undermine your overall success.

Imagine thinking about your communications in the context of their authenticity, value and relevance to your audience is a new priority for marketers. Making that shift can be challenging.

For instance, placing an ad or corporate promotional video on YouTube in the hopes that it will find viewers is not motivated by either relevance or value but rather by the marketers need for attention. Launching a facebook page and then abandoning it after a few months when your inability to create useful content results in limited fans shows a lack of commitment.

Work to create engagement and interaction and your social media strategy will become a powerful attractive force as well as becoming the lynchpin of your inbound marketing success.