Unethical marketing practices on social media websites have failed … badly. As in all marketing situations, integrity pays off. While much of social media is out of your hands, there are many factors you can control that will keep you out of trouble.

The first thing to always keep in mind when embarking on a social media marketing campaign is that you are joining a community. As with any community, companies have their rightful place, but they do not have the right to invade people’s privacy. In your face, undirected spam marketing will get you nowhere in a hurry.

Most social media marketers use websites like Facebook and MySpace to try and drive traffic to another website. While it is perfectly ethical to use social media websites to spread a message to people who are genuinely interested, many people tinker with the system with automatic add-ons for friends and spam messages and bulletins. Again, anything that is not targeted and contains spam will not help your reputation.

Fortunately, social media websites are getting smarter with these practices and are removing and banning offenders.

As mentioned above, to use such websites as a marketing tool with integrity, you must participate as a member of the community. Get involved in groups related to your area, contribute, communicate and make friends who are genuinely interested in what you have to say and what you have to sell.

As you start posting more content to these websites, try to avoid direct marketing platitudes. To be successful, your content must have genuine value and interest to other users. Also, never mislead potential customers. Don’t hold off on your headlines to try to attract visitor clicks.

For example, instead of leaving a blog post pretending to be a consumer recommending your website or product, be honest. Explain that the product or website is yours and how it is relevant to the discussion. People will eventually see you through dishonest marketing methods, even if they don’t do it right away. And one mistake could cost you your reputation.

Also, when contributing to social media websites, never use it as an opportunity to unfairly criticize competitors or their products. Do not point out the shortcomings. Point out what makes you different.

Since social media marketing can be viewed as a form of posting, be aware of copyright issues online. Read about the basics of media law and learn about the potential dangers when it comes to defamation, invasion of privacy and intellectual property, and copyright infringement.

There are no hard and fast rules governing ethical behavior in social media marketing. Most communities are self-regulating. So, be on your best behavior and you shouldn’t have a problem.