If you’re a small business or an individual focused on building and maintaining a personal brand there is one aspect of business and social media that I want you to take away from my blog.
Time and growth of social media is non-linear!
You’ll need someone who can recognize the inflection point. With the ups and downs of social media participation the inflection point is where your involvement peaks. This process is non-linear and difficult to anticipate. The failure to see the inflection point of social media growth leads to one thing.. Death. If you’re young in social media this failure can kill current client retention and lead opportunities.
It’s really hard as a business to expand into a new environment when day to day operational transactions are all consuming. You must remember that managing your social media presence and relationships is your responsibility. You own the business or your personal brand. That’s why you’re in a position of leadership and ownership to direct the company down the right path.
If issues arise the option isn’t- if you can’t solve the problem, stay up late and try harder. More time isn’t the answer. It’s important to get to the point where you turn to those who are skilled in the environment and say “I’ve gotten myself into something I can’t handle, help me figure this out.”
There are a lot of people and businesses who build their own presence. There are lots of examples of successful businesses that have gone this route. The problem with this is that it doesn’t scale well. You’re not getting any additional oomph.. To be a little more technical- With this model you have really thin gross margins.
First you have to look at the organization’s goal or mission. Develop a strategy. What time and resources are needed to integrate a social media presence? Normal questions for the DIY mind frame, but where I have fears are with companies that develop a large social media presence, and it’s just a Fan page with 1,000s of fans, with no revenue impact. There is a great difference between getting these fans and turning them into valuable assets and evangelists. Not only is social media a wasted investment, it can also cause a negative association with your brand.
Tons of fans and no pull represents a poorly ran online community and may represent a poorly ran business.
The art of social media success comes from trying to figure out what’s appropriate given the situation. Growth will come, but only with high levels of effort. Developing a social media strategy and aligning it with your business and personal capabilities is vital when working in a non-linear environment like social media.
Keep trucking even during the troughs and continue to supply your target market valuable content and a holistic experience.
– Peter