Let’s face it; chances are you probably want to get more exposure online. Maybe you’re already churning out content on a regular basis, but you’re looking for something else to boost your marketing campaign.

Well, why not become a celebrity in your niche? This means going above and beyond great content; it means following through with your existing fans as you try to attract new fans (Click to Tweet). It means putting your personal stamp on everything you do as part of your marketing campaign. Most importantly, it means showing your personality.

Content on its own might be great for SEO purposes, but these days everyone is trying to pump out as much decent content as possible. If you read a good chunk of it, you’ll see that most is rather dry and straight to the point. Where’s the fun stuff? Where’s the spark? What will make it stand out and be memorable a year from now?

Those are the questions you need to ask yourself as you update you blog and your social networks. Stand out, even if that means going off-topic for a little while. Show that you’re a person first and an expert second (Click to Tweet). In that sense, becoming a celebrity in your niche can best be accomplished by not talking about your niche all the time.

This is where engagement and authenticity come into play.  Yes, I know those are two very popular buzzwords among social media marketers, but they are buzzwords for a reason. Live by those words.

By now, you’re probably convinced that you need to become a celebrity in your niche, but you still might be a little unsure of how to put this into action. So, to sum it up, here’s a list of what you can begin doing today (click on any item to tweet it):

•     Put your personality into your blog and social media content
•     Go to where your ideal fans already are and engage them there
•     Be consistent with your posting schedule
•     Allow for interaction with everything you do
•     Incorporate videos into your content strategy

Basically, you should be connecting with your fans on more levels than just expertise and industry knowledge. Give them a reason to come back to your blog and to follow you through your social channels. Make your fans your main priority and they’ll often thank you for it, again and again.

Many folks who are new to social media marketing tend to think that having control over their social content is key. Well, guess what? You’ll never have control. Those who engage with you will.

What you can do instead is have some significant degree of influence over the conversation that is already happening online. It that sense, while you won’t be able to control the message, you’ll at least be able to steer what is being said about you or your brand in a positive direction.

Having control over the conversation is a thing of the past. You are no longer the sole gatekeeper to your brand’s reputation. The social web has allowed your customers, clients, friends, fans, followers and competitors to say what they want about you, your brand and what you offer. In the corporate boardroom, I can just imagine how this thought does not go over well with most c-level executives.

Marketing  in the days of past was largely about controlling your message. It was about convincing your audience to react in a certain way. In this sense, it was a very unauthentic one-way communications method.

Fast forward to today and you’ll see that marketing is a two-way street now. Often, it is more important to listen to what other folks are saying about your brand than to simply keep churning out content. As I’ve always said, good brands listen, but great brands listen and respond.

So, what does this have to do with control and influence? It’s simple; don’t try to control the general conversation about your brand. Instead, be authentic and give folks a reason to say good things instead of bad or neutral things about you.

It’ll take some time, but if you’re giving your fans a reason to praise you, they’ll often do it. That’s what Gary Vaynerchuk was talking about when he mentions “The Thank You Economy.” You just have to prove to your customers that you care about them more than anyone else. In that sense, you’ll gain influence and these days influence is a lot more powerful than control.

I’m going to try something new. Instead of a wordy article, let’s simplify things a little bit.

Here’s a list I put together with 30 tips you can use to get in the right social media marketing mindset, in no particular order.

Click on any tip to share it on Twitter. Enjoy!

1. Buying attention never got anyone anywhere. Earn it.
2. Google makes the rules; you just play the game.
3. Twitter is not a link farm. Don’t treat it as such.
4. LinkedIn can be one of your most underestimated resources.
5. Don’t act like a marketer, act like a real human being.
6. Listening is often more important than speaking.
7. You blog needs to be updated at least twice a week.
8. It’s okay to make mistakes.
9. There’s no such thing as the perfect social media campaign.
10. Say goodbye to SEO. Say hello to Social SEO.
11. Video is still the medium of choice for viral content.
12. Facebook doesn’t like spam. Play nice.
13. Sometimes it’s not about you.
14. Current events are great conversation starters.
15. Social media marketing requires continuous effort.
16. There are other places to engage your audience besides the Big Four.
17. If 2011 was the year of Instagram, 2012 is the year of Pinterest.
18. Your blog content won’t just share itself.
19. When creating engaging content, perfect is the enemy of good.
20. Good brands listen. Great brands listen and respond.
21. You don’t “go on Facebook” anymore. Facebook is everywhere.
22. We’re all lazy. Clicking is easier than commenting.
23. Twitter is a nightclub. Grab attention by becoming the DJ.
24. Thank your fans and followers at random. They’ll appreciate it.
25. Become a celebrity in your industry.
26. Appreciate your fans and followers. Without them, you’re in an empty room.
27. Focus on engaging your current fans rather than on attracting new fans.
28. Care first, sell later.
29. There is no substitute for authenticity.
30. The best time to start your social media campaign is now.

Have you been looking for the “perfect” social media plan? Or, do you think you’ve already found it? Well, that might actually hurt your social media marketing campaign more than it actually helps.

Think of it like this: If social media is meant to be a communications and engagement tool, then we should treat it as such. If you agree with the previous statement, then you probably agree that social interactions are not always perfect. People make mistakes. Humans say silly things. Jokes that aren’t funny are sometimes said. Off-topic discussions sometimes become more popular than anything else you said that day.

The bottom line is that if you understand the importance of finding your voice, being authentic, sharing and listening to your audience, then it just makes sense to show your imperfect side as well.

Don’t be a marketer. Marketers sometimes get stuck in the mindset that there is a best practice for everything. Instead, just use your intuition and just a little bit of science to determine what your audience wants to hear. If you make a few mistakes along the way, learn from it and move along.

So, how do you implement this concept of imperfection through your social media campaigns? Well, just be a little off-topic at times. Show your human side. Make jokes, talk about subjects that are completely unrelated to your industry. In other words, just be yourself sometimes and step outside of your brand. Obviously, use discretion and common sense. That should go without saying.

Here’s an interesting summary of what I’m reinforcing here, written by the folks at Thought Particles:

Embrace the flaws. Show your audience who you are behind that curtain. Share funny stores. Or even embarrassing ones. Use this venue to be transparent, give them glimpses behind-the-scenes, or even just tell a joke, should the mood strike. This lets your audience know you are real. They want to be friends, first. Patrons, church members, followers, and customers, second.

The point is that if all you’re doing is staying on-topic 24/7, your audience is probably getting bored. They want to see more, so deliver more. One surefire way to do this is to be more than a brand; be a buddy too.

These days we are so apt to push out content, that we often forget to actually listen to our fans and followers. One of the biggest mistakes we can make with our social media campaigns is to use these platforms as a broadcast tool rather than an engagement tool.

Make sure you go back and read that last sentence again, because it is that important! Social media is not a one-way messaging system. Don’t use it like that unless you want to talk to yourself all day long.

Your audience is looking for opportunities to reach out to you and they are giving you the opportunity to reach out to them.

Whatever you do, make sure you’re listening and responding rather than merely blurting out one new sales pitch after another.

Listening means paying attention to what people are saying about you brand, but that’s not where it stops. You also need to monitor the general chatter about your industry or niche. Often, you’ll find the best conversations can start there.

Again, it all comes down to authenticity. People can sense whether or not your campaign is authentic in the blink of an eye. That could mean all the difference between creating a large following and getting lost in the noise.

We frequently get asked the following: “How can someone know what to blog about or what to post on social networks?” The answer is simple. Find out who your ideal audience is and tailor your message to fit their needs.

What I mean by this is that you as a content creator need to give your audience what they want. If you’re a lawyer and you’re looking to improve your SEO rankings by blogging, you need to blog about things that interest your clients, not yourself. If you’re a plumber and you want to start engaging with followers on Twitter, you need to talk about common household problems and tips and tricks. People don’t want to hear about specials on replacing leaky toilets all the time.

The key here is that it’s okay to branch out a little with your content and your message, as long as it somehow ties back into your brand in a meaningful and authentic way.

Far too often I see Facebook pages for doctors or dentists and all they do is quote fancy medical studies and link to academic articles. The average fan of that page probably does’t care that much about such specific information. If they did, they could always find it with a quick Google search. You don’t have to act like a know-it-all in order to show that you’re an expert in your field.

Rather, doctors should take a broad approach and talk about healthy living, fitness and wellness. They should also host contests related to healthy living and ask lots of questions on the subject. This will appeal to many more fans, while still keeping your brand at the top of their minds.

Furthermore, this approach gives you much more content to work with. You don’t need to be so specific. For example, on this blog, I can easily talk about iPhone apps, or the latest business venture in silicon valley and still relate it back to my social media marketing services.

On top of all this, it is extremely important to be authentic with everything you do and say. Don’t just pump out content for the sake of boosting SEO or because you know you need to do it. Put an emphasis on delivering value with every word and phrase.

Authenticity will pay off in the end, as it allows you to find your true voice. That voice also happens to be the voice your audience expects to hear.

If you’re truly interested in standing out from the rest of the static, your social media campaign should consist of a healthy balance of original content and curated content.

If you’re not directly selling something, think about how you add value for your audience. You can either create content for your audience, or share content created by others. We will refer to the latter as “content curation,” since you are selecting, reviewing and promoting the work of others on a particular topic.

Often, the question comes up of which is better. Should I create more content or curate more content? Before answering that question, let’s look at the benefits of each choice.

Creating content allows you to show that you are well-informed on whatever your chosen subject may be. This can help you position yourself as an expert on the subject, while boosting your organic search engine ranking through some strategic keyword placement.

On the other hand, curating the work of others is a great way to show that it’s not all about you, your brand and your message. A key value that drives all types of social media interactions is the ability to share what others are saying and doing.

The act of sharing the work of others will almost always benefit your brand in the long run, because it shows that you’re more interested in delivering value to your audience, regardless of who will get the site traffic.

However, I often run across big brands that refuse to share content with their audience that they did not create. They want every link on their Facebook, Twitter and Google+ feeds to point back to their own sites, as if they are the only authority in the world blogging about whatever it is they blog about.

Really though, no matter how authoritative you might be in your little niche, I guarantee there are other folks writing fantastic articles that will be of interest to your audience. Are you afraid that if you share those articles, you’ll lose your followers forever? That idea cannot be farther from the truth.

What will probably happen is that your followers will appreciate the fact that you’re delivering value from all different sources. Maybe they would have never found the article you linked to if you had not tweeted about it. Often, the content creators will thank you as well, for spotlighting their work. Sometimes, they’ll even reciprocate by sharing your content with their followers.

This is kinda like the circle of life in the social media world. You can earn a loyal fan base by consistently delivering authentic content, regardless of whether or not you’re the author of that content.

To sum it up, I think we all need to assess our social media messages from time to time. We need to make sure every post has something to add to the conversation. Most importantly, we need to ensure that we’re not just trying to get people to click on links that point back to our website.

Share what interests you and what you think will interest your followers as well. Don’t treat every update as if it were part of a sales pitch. If people like the type of content you’re sharing, they’ll keep coming back. That’s the magic of social media. Just be authentic.

Say goodbye to the days where great meta tags, keyword-stuffed content and a few quality backlinks were all you needed to rank well on Google. Those days are gone, thanks to the phenomenal impact social media has had on the way we interact online.

Folks are starting to realize that it is often better to ask for recommendations from friends and family via Facebook, Twitter and Google+ than to simply leave everything up to automated search engine algorithms.

Now, search engines are starting to realize this too. Google’s recent move into social networking was something they’ve been planning for years. They saw the threat of Facebook, and they knew that even their supreme command of the traditional search market would be challenged.

You see, Facebook is collecting an unimaginable amount of social data about you and I at this very moment. They’re compiling our entire social profile and they now know more about the things we like, our interests, our demographics and even our personality than many of our friends know about us. Imagine how useful this data can be to marketers.

That’s where search comes in. At the core, search engines are all about delivering the best results as quickly as possible, based on the search query. Well, what I consider to be the best results and what you consider to be the best results might be entirely different, even if our search queries were identical.

How do you address this issue? Take our social data into account.

By merging the algorithmic search results with our individual social profiles, engines like Google are able to customize results based on a multitude of factors, including what we’ve previously expressed interest in, what our friends like and what we talk about.

In that sense, social data might even be more valuable than traditionally search data in delivering the best search results, because it allows for a much higher level of personalization.

You’re no longer browsing the web. You’re browsing the web that has been customized and filtered based on your individual profile. That can be a scary thought, because there is a fine line between content filtering and censorship.

Nevertheless, be aware that search engine optimization (SEO) has changed. Social SEO is the new wave, yet it is still in it’s infancy. As networks like Google+ gain traction, we’re going to see that our social data will continue to play a big part in finding what we’re looking for online.

That means the game has changed. The folks who were experts at traditional SEO need to adapt if they haven’t done so already. New tactics will emerge and just when we think we’ve figured out social SEO, something else will come along and change things yet again. That’s just the nature of technology.

We’ve all heard it. Content is KING! But why do so many marketing folks say that, as if it were their mantra for success? Well, because it’s just that darn important.

Let’s say you’re trying to launch a new product online. You have a shiny new website, your analytics software is in place and you have your social media profiles all ready to go. Now what?

That’s where content comes in. A lot of business owners still treat the content they produce as second-rate to the products or services they sell. Why is that? Because creating outstanding content is not easy! Oh, and by the way, your content needs to be outstanding in order to compete with what else is our there.

Anyway, back to the “now what?” situation. So you’re all ready to go, but you don’t have the traffic you were expecting. Are you wondering why? You have to go out and generate that traffic. How? Produce great content!

You see, your content strategy is one of the most effective parts of your entire online marketing effort, because it effectively kills two birds with one stone.

Your website ranking in Google is largely (although not entirely) dependent on the quality, quantity, frequency and popularity of the content you publish on your website. Additionally, your social media campaign is all about generating buzz and engaging with your fans by starting conversations. How do you do this? First, you need something to talk about. Yep, it’s all about the content!

So if you’ve been wondering where to start with your online marketing efforts, you can’t go wrong by bumping up  your content strategy. It will definitely help your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts and your social media marketing efforts.

The best part about focusing on content is that often, one good blog article can be taken apart in order to create three or four tweets or Facebook updates. That way you’re getting more bang for your buck on both the SEO side of things as well as the social media side of things, all from the same original content source.

So, if you’re like me and you value the importance of multitasking, start making content the focus of your online strategy and tell me how it works for you! I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Remember the old commercials for those rotisserie ovens, where the catchphrase was to simply “set it and forget it?” Well, some folks still seem to have the “set it and forget it” mentality when it comes to marketing their brand through social media.

You know what I’m talking about. How many blogs have you seen with just one post from six months ago? How many Twitter profiles have you stumbled upon that haven’t been updated in years? How many business websites have you visited that still link to their MySpace page?

Just having that stuff won’t get you more business. In fact, it ends up hurting your business in the long run, since it makes you look out of touch with technology.

So then, why do companies still spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars having their social media profiles and blogs set up and optimized if they never plan on using them at all?

Personally, I think this has to do with the business mindset that if our competitor is doing it, we better jump on the bandwagon too, even if we don’t exactly understand what “it” is.

Social media isn’t just something you can “do” once and be done with. On the contrary, it is a living, breathing, active part of your business strategy that needs daily attention.

Yes, I know that sounds daunting, but believe me when I tell you that just about every minute you invest into your social media campaign will come back to you with dividends in one way or another. Brands all over the world have proven this time and again.

So if you’re engaging through your social media channels and posting fresh content on your blog on a regular basis, that’s great. However, if you haven’t updated anything in a while, you should really step back and figure out what happened and how you can be more consistent.

At the end of the day, consistency is one of the most important values for a brand to have and consistency has pretty much become expected within the realm of social media marketing. That’s my argument and I’m sticking to it.