Social media comes with a pretty steep learning curve, which places an enormous amount of value in tried-and-tested guidelines, which can only come from persistence and experience.

Like many of the good things in life, there are no shortcuts, and while some folks get uncomfortable with the use of the word rules on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest, there are some things that you really have to do to get ahead. For example, it’s important that you position yourself to be an expert so that your audience learn to trust your advice. Whatever you do, you must avoid spamming. At all times, your audience will expect you to keep it real. Your content should strive to engage and enrich. If you want to convert visitors into customers, always follow up with connections.

And, perhaps most importantly, have fun. It’ll make this inevitably long journey a lot more pleasurable.

These, and fifteen other tips, can be found in this fantastic infographic from Social Metrics Pro, which proposes 21 rules for an effective social media marketing strategy.

Do you have any tips of your own? Hit the comments to let us know.

(Source: Social Metrics Pro.)