I was creating a website for a client a couple of years ago. The owner of the company asked me the night before a planned email promotion if we could use Twitter to help he effectiveness of their campaign. I told him that Twitter, like all social media forms, is designed specifically to STOP corporate types from using it in this way.

“You can’t just set up a Twitter account and blast your promo out onto the internet,” I said. “You have to earn the right to use Twitter. And that comes with hard work and lots of time.”

The magic behind social media is precisely the way it levels the playing field. You can’t buy your way into these things. You have to obey certain rules and work with these new media forms on their own terms. Here are some general suggestions to get you started:

1. Play nicely.

All social media forms involve de-centralized communication among people with “relationships.” True, these relationships might not be as robust as the ones we enjoy in real life, but that’s the way social media works. People like a blog and post about it. People watch a YouTube video and tweet it. If you want to use social media to advance any agenda, you have to learn the rules and play accordingly. Don’t expect to be able to buy your way into this game.

2. Don’t be in a hurry.

Social media’s specialty is preventing “the man” from taking over. A powerful company can buy a full page ad in the New York Times if they want, but they can’t buy a higher Google page ranking or 1000 inbound links from bloggers. You have to cultivate social media relationships over a long period of time. Plan on at least a year to get started with another 2-3 years before you start bearing significant fruit.

3. Give as good as you get.

Social media is about sharing. If you want people to link to you and tweet your headlines, do the same. Read blogs and comment on them. Retweet headlines that interest you. Exchange links with others.

4. Take the time to learn the fine print.

If you are going to make the investment of time and expense into corporate social media advocacy, make sure you read the fine print. Almost every social media form has little tricks that can help. If you are using Twitter, learn about hashtags and the use of the @ symbol. If you are on Facebook, learn how to use your corporate page to drive traffic to your website. You can lose valuable time by not taking advantage of the little tricks of the trade that can help your efforts.