Are you abiding by the 80/20 rule?

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that many of you out there aren’t following the, Pareto Principle, or more commonly known as the 80/20 rule with your social media efforts. Wanna know how I know? The stats prove it!

When is the C-Suite going to realize social media is about building relationships? The Internet is not a nebulous space-thingy. It’s made of people. We are human network of individuals who like interacting with brands that we trust.

BUT, sell to us too much and we will disappear.

The premise behind the 80/20 rule is to post content that is relevant to your audience at least 80% of the time. That means content explicitly about your company or products should be posted no more than 20% of the time. By minimizing the amount of time spent on selling or pitching to your social community you will help increase engagement and build loyalty.

Tips for Following this Rule

It’s about you, not me: Social media is about talking to your followers and finding out what they are interested in. Remember that guy who just jabbered on and on about himself all the time? He smelled like cheap cologne too? Yeah, well, if your company is consistently talking about themselves – they are THAT GUY! On the social web it’s easy to “un-follow” anyone.

I’m listening: That’s right put on your listening ears and hear what your community has to say. If you are talking you can’t hear what’s going on around you.  Respond to your social community and engage in real-time conversations. Social media is all about two-way communication so … communicate already! (Ohhh, share this with the boss – she’ll love it.. 80/20 principle in action: Spend 80 percent of your time on SM to read conversations and 20 percent to reply)

Let’s hang out: Now that you’ve established a friendship, every once in a while talk a little about yourself. Don’t go overboard here so be careful to not disrupt the 80/20 balance.

Some great brands that apply the 80/20 rule exceptionally well: Dell, Oreo, The Home Depot and Chobani.

Tell me, how do you apply the 80/20 rule?