Social Media Isn’t a Sprint, It’s a Marathon

Having The Endurance

 Over the weekend I attended an event where the topic was Endurance. The focus was related to how we need to stay focused, work hard and smart and not loose hope or faith, when things get tough. This topic touched me on a personal level, but I started thinking about how it applies to social media in business.

Many businesses still look at social media as a mystery. Those that don’t understand social media or the benefits of using it, don’t apply it correctly to their business or steer clear of it completely. Today I want to clarify some things with social media to help businesses make better decision about using social media.

Understand that social media isn’t an overnight answer to all of your marketing problems. It takes time to build your presence on social media and to find the right mix of activities that is good for your audience. This is why I say, “It isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon.” You need to be ready to be in this for the long haul and when done right, the pay off is rewarding and exhilarating.

Strategy

Don’t just open social media profiles at random based on what you use in your personal life, or someone told you to try. Having a strategy will determine where you start with social media, where you want to be and how you are going to get there. Be ready to answer these questions:

• What will your strategy for social media be?
• What kind of topics will you post about?
• How do you plan to get more followers?
• What is your budget?
• What is the best time of day to post and how often?
• Who are you targeting?
• Where geographically are you targeting?

Implementation

This is key. So many times I’ve seen companies implement their social media profiles either partially or incorrectly. Sometimes their social media profile do not represent their brand identity. Your social media implementation should represent your brand and should include important details to help people understand what your profile represents. If you only partially implement your profile, you could be missing out on important details that help your SEO. If you make it look like a different company, people will be confused and probably think the social media page is a hoax.

Posting

You can’t just post whenever you feel like it, or keep pushing sales messages. This is one of the biggest mistakes I see businesses making with social media. If you aren’t providing content that is relevant and engaging, then you need to go back to your Strategy. You want to make sure your posts are about what the audience cares about, and what is important to them. Think about how you are going to differentiate yourself and create posts that are simple, to the point and get people to engage.

Promote

Don’t expect to “build it and they will come.” Get ready to promote your social media. You can’t build it and think people will just find you. No, it doesn’t work that way. You have to let your current customers, friends, employees, partners and the world know “Here I am!” You can do this through email, paid for advertising, word of mouth, inviting friends, adding links on your website, flyers in the office, etc. If you don’t tell everyone you are on social media, they won’t know to look to find you.

Monitor

After you release social media for your business, it has to be monitored on a constant basis. This doesn’t mean there has to be a person that never leaves the computer and waits for someone to reply to a post or send a message, but you need to keep a close eye on it. The worst thing you can do is build it up and then just leave it unattended. Remember it is called “Social Media” because it is an interactive social platform. Not responding to a comment or message is leaving yourself vulnerable to complaints from upset followers.

Measure Your ROI

You will put energy into your social media and money (one way or another), you should understand the results. Anything you invest into you want to see a return on your investment (ROI). Whether it will be increasing followers, getting new business, meeting a quota on a promotion, engagement, etc. know what your investing and what you are getting out of it.

The more you put into social media, the more you will get out of it, if done right. You have to be willing and ready to have the endurance needed to make it work. Again, this is why social media isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon.

For more information from 4 Step Studio on using social media in your business, click on this link and submit the form. We will contact you within 24 hours. http://www.4stepstudio.com/#!contact/c13jy

About Andrea Boyle

4 Step Studio is an online marketing agency that specializes in website design and redesign, SEO, social media and more. www.4StepStudio.com