Saying It Social

Your Social Media Marketing Seed Needs Time to Grow

Cultivating your Social Media Marketing Garden

I received a question similar to this earlier today and I thought I’d share my response with everyone because I know this question is quite common surrounding the topic of social media marketing.

It’s been my experience that when implemented correctly it can take up to 6 months or so for a quantifiable ROI to begin to surface. Social media marketing is about forming, developing, and maintaining relationships. It takes time to establish trust with your target market. Your goal is to gain trust by engaging your audience, participating in conversations and sharing valuable, industry-related information, photos, videos, testimonials, press releases, etc. I recently read a comment on a blog where someone termed this process of earning trust and the results of this investment as a “return on connections”. As these audience relationships continue to grow, the people that you connect with via the social media sites will become more and more aware of your business’ name and the products/services that you offer such that when they have a want or need that your business can fulfill and/or when someone they know mentions that they are looking for the products/services that your business offers, the name of your business will be right at the top of their minds.

Beginning a social media marketing program can be likened to starting a garden; you can’t plant the seeds one day and expect a beautiful spread of fully developed plants and flowers when you wake up the next morning; the end result is a product of the nurturing and maintenance that you provide over time.

Another purpose for having a presence on the various social sites is so that when people go looking for your business, it is there to be found. Now days, people want to see what other people have to say about a business and how a business acts before they make a purchasing decision. Because social networks are so prevalent, all a consumer needs to do is hop online and search for the name of the business in which they are interested to see what is being said. For your business to be there when it is sought out shows the consumer that you are invested in earning their trust. To be absent shows a lack of commitment, with no option given to the consumer to establish any type of connection with your business, and that to me, is a very scary notion. Don’t let your competition win just because you didn’t show up to the field.

Social media has changed the game altogether. It is not enough to just have a website anymore. Websites are cold and corporate; a poker face that a business can hide behind. Putting your business out there shows that you are not afraid to be vulnerable. To be present on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WordPress, etc., lets the consumer know that you don’t have anything to hide, or if for some reason there was something negative said about your business, you will at least be there to respond appropriately and let others see how you handle yourself and care about the concerns of your clients.

One more fantastic benefit obtained from utilizing these online platforms is the ability for you to easily keep your current clients (and/or their families) “in the know” about what your business is doing. All someone needs to do is connect with your business on the social sites and they will automatically receive a wealth of information related to your industry (because you are not just blasting out self promotions about how great your products/services are), updates on events with which your office is involved, photos of you, your office, your staff, and anything else that you wish to share – which just helps them feel comfortable and confident that doing business with you is the right choice.

I’m not trying to downplay the fact that an increase in leads does not happen over night or say that lead generation is not an important goal of a social media marketing program. What I am saying is that it just takes time and this is something that needs to be understood about social media marketing. It takes time to gain trust, establish a presence, be seen as an industry expert and develop a relationship with your audience – but the effects of all of these elements will be long lasting and the leads will come.

November 7, 2010 - Posted by AK Stout | Uncategorized | business, social media, social media marketing, social media roi