Set Expectations for Social Media

Everything today is instant—I mean really-fast-like-now. We are beginning to lose the art of patience.

• I emailed you 15 minutes ago, why haven’t you answered?
• I texted you—where are you?
• I sent the proposal this morning—so do we have a deal or not?
• Launched our website yesterday, why don’t we have any inquiries?

Our sense of timing is thrown with the fast pace of technology today and so when we venture into social media the expectation of success feels as though it should be immediate.

Months go by, you’ve been posting on Facebook and Twitter, sending out invitations to follow you and nothing much has happened. You begin to wonder what you are doing and why, after all this time, you’re not seeing the payoff for your efforts.

Traffic to your website is steady but hasn’t increased, leads aren’t coming in and sales haven’t grown. Are you just wasting your time? You are discouraged and so you let your social profiles and sites go unattended. Wait, there is more…

You might even start to rationalize about how others are getting traction and success out there. You might be saying things like: Your customers and prospects aren’t using this stuff. Other companies have more money and hired creative agencies. They have more free time and can afford to hang out and do this work.

These are all too common rationalizations from busy business owners trying out the next big thing in growing a business. So what went wrong?

First, social media is not an overnight success tool. It takes time, understanding of the various mediums, creating good content and strong strategies.

Second, social media are channels that offer the opportunity for networking and engagement. They are not just a series of sales and marketing broadcast stations.

Unless you have really begun to engage with people, are offering content that solicits reactions and is sharable and helpful, then chances are you aren’t gaining a lot of ground.

Yes, it is time consuming. No matter how efficient you are, this still requires time invested. If you can’t commit to the time then you need to enlist your staff or hire a professional.

And realistically, set your goals, understand how to measure results, check those results regularly, and adjust constantly.

With social media, a simple rule to follow is you initiate and don’t make them do the work. What do I mean by this?

You follow, connect, fan, link, and comment on their sites first. Offer up a link to reciprocate, don’t think that they will go looking for you. And here is a tip: Give them a reason that reaches beyond ‘follow me’ or ‘like me,’ which hardly seems enticing enough. Even to sign up for your newsletter, be sure to answer the why, such as “For timely updates on…” Or maybe, “Be the first to get great…”

So let’s take a look at expectations.

Problem: You started blogging but no one is reading the blogs and you aren’t getting back links or subscribers.
Answer: This is actually pretty common. So much anxiety and effort goes into creating blogs that somehow the marketing and the promotion needs of the blog are forgotten.

Solution: Make sure that you are posting the blog in your social media spaces (another good reason to build up your social followings) as well as connecting it to sites that promote blogs. You should create a marketing plan just for your blog and a part of that plan is to create a community that encourages people to comment on your blog and share with others. Spend time commenting and subscribing to other bloggers. And don’t forget to make sure that your blog has sharing widgets such as AddThis or ShareThis and have accounts with StumbleUpon and digg. Stick to a schedule, consistently market and in six months to a year the results will blow you away!

Problem: No one is following you on Twitter.

Answer: This is another common challenge. First ask yourself, why should they? That’s right, why should they follow you on Twitter and more importantly, add you to one of their lists that they actually monitor tweets from? If the only reason you can come up with sounds like a promotion for your business then you have missed the point. Twitter is a news stream—not just news about you because let’s face it, just how interesting is your life or your company? Yeah, not enough to hold an audience’s attention for a long duration. 

Solution: Find credible and helpful resources to share that are on topic and then promote others by retweeting (RT) their posts, reply to questions they might ask @them, or ask them a question. If you want to be seen you need to see them first.

Problem: No one is liking your brand on Facebook or becoming a fan.

Answer: Again I suggest that you start by asking yourself, why should they? What are you offering that would work as an enticement and how are you helping them either by improving their lives or promoting them?