Social Media Marketing Today Takes Real Determination

Posted on: November 19th, 2011 by Darren McLaughlin No Comments

The social media world is very crowded.  Every Tom, Dick, and Harry is out there cavorting on social networks, hawking their wares to the public.  Social media marketing is elbow to elbow as organizations jockey for position in front of consumers.

 

In the USA, living in a recession has become a way of life.  That means lots of near-starved companies are trolling Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter for anyone with a live heartbeat.

 

In a marketplace this crowded, can a small organization compete and still succeed?  There's no question they can!  Companies that are focused and determined to succeed through executing an effective and long-running social media marketing campaign are bound to have their way.  Social networks are no different than any other venue.  At first the market is crowded with eager companies who are salivating at the prospect of grabbing fresh clients at no cost.  However, after the enormity of their task dawns on them, there's only a few ways they can go.

 

Social Media Marketing Success

Social Media Marketing Success Takes Hard Work

Smart Companies Will Stay On Course With Social Media Marketing 

 

Some companies will look to outsiders to help.

 

They'll spend money on a social media marketing campaign that is managed by a third party.  Others will quit.  They'll decide that social media marketing is nothing but an illusion and they'll rue the day they ever got talked into trying it by the 'snake oil' salesmen they now despise.  Once they wander off from their aborted social media marketing attempt, they'll look for any information that they can find that supports their negative view about how it doesn't work.

 

The last type of company will take a more rational approach.  They'll accept the innate limitations of their business when it comes to marketing through social media.  They'll end up reveling in the small, but consistent, gains they're making in the areas of traffic generation, new client prospecting, and customer retention.  They'll accept the fact that the whole thing is a lot of work, but admit the results are worth it.

If you're in the last camp, I'd like to congratulate you on your decision to stick with it and to make a go of social media marketing.  There's no question that your efforts will be rewarded over time.  Social networking websites are not going anywhere.  They continue to grow in popularity and influence.  If you are creating connection with clients then your social media marketing program is already a success.

 

You should never get obsessed with numbers.  Don't put too much faith in a lot of the highly-staged examples of success you'll be shown.  Many of them involve more fakery than you might imagine!  Legitimate small businesses using ethical social media marketing campaigns will not likely grow exponentially over night.  They'll have to work hard for every gain, by toiling away diligently in relative obscurity.  Face up to this simple truth and you're already on the road to long term success.  For those who stay fascinated with the 'get rich quick' aspect of  marketing online, slow success will never be enough.  They'll likely grow bored with their results and move on to following the advice of the newest inflated 'guru.'

 

Maintaining A Disciplined Approach Makes Companies Succeed

 

Do something.  Watch how it works.  Analyse results.  If it's successful, repeat the process.  If your tactic didn't work, consider trying something new.  That's all there is to experimenting with social media marketing.  No one can predict exactly how the 'internet' will react to your company or products.  Some amount of experimentation is required to try and figure out who your audience is and what kind of content they want from you.  You can always ask them, too!  Keep on listening to what people are saying and make constant improvements to your overall campaign.  Incremental success is cumulative and can add up to huge amounts of traffic and influence.

 

Even small gains add up when it comes to social media.  When people start catching on to your message and begin sharing your content, you can experience a large amount of growth.  At first, you won't get many shares because nobody knows who you are.  It's important to accept that fact and work more on improving your efforts, rather than focusing on your lack of traffic.  Too many people who are new to social media marketing seem to expect that they'll have the same results as someone they admire.  Of course the 'guru' they admire has been blogging since 1997!  There are very few overnight sensations online.  Most people have had to pay their dues for years in order to achieve any level of success.  Make sure to remain humble and reach out to as many people as you can.  If you're sincere, they'll help you grow.  If you spend all your time thinking of the short term, you could miss out on learning what it takes to really succeed.

 

Social Media Marketing Ethics

Social Media Marketing Ethics Are Rewarded

Social media success beckons to you.  Since you're out there learning about how to accomplish it, you're already further along the path than many.  Try not to be mislead by grandiose claims and focus instead on pleasing your audience and your clients.  Word of mouth is the ultimate form of traffic for your business, and that comes when people trust you.  Credibility-building can never be underestimated, and it always takes time.  You may have to communicate with people ten or more times before they begin paying attention.  That means you have to wake up and play the game every day!  You can't ignore your social media marketing efforts for months at a time and still succeed.  People expect you to communicate and engage with them so maintaining a daily schedule of disciplined, systematic efforts is much better than sudden burst of effort followed by inactivity.

 

Hopefully this article has made you more determined than ever to succeed using social media marketing.  Your business will prosper with the influx of clients you can receive from your efforts.  Thanks so much for stopping by and reading!  If you enjoyed the article, please pass it along to your friends using one of the social sharing tools located on the top of the post.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm the President of MostHost Inc. I'm interested in cloud hosting, email security, social media, cats, business development, and my wife Heather. | |



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