Running the Melbourne Marathon serves as a yearly reminder of what hard work and perseverance can do for your Social Media campaign. Yes, you read correctly. Your Social Media campaign is the digital marketing equivalent of maintaining your running pace over a long distance with the finish line always seeming out of reach.
You’ll fight through moments of fatigue and a desperate desire to stop in your tracks. Only the well-trained and persistent practitioners enjoy steady progress, success, and bragging rights.
Whilst event day is the pinnacle, most runners will tell you that the real reason for participation is to learn from your training, learn about the course’s stumbling blocks, and learn from others who have run it before you. The real effort includes the commitment to train, building stamina for the race itself, and post-race recovery – an experience much greater in distance than 42kms.
Here are a few training tips to set yourself up for a successful and enduring Social Media campaign:
- Train for the distance
Plan your ongoing Social Media campaign a season ahead. Diarize the following; company milestones; events you’ll be attending; significant industry developments, anticipated product launches. Make sure your content is diverse and can be illustrated with eye-catching, brand-consistent images.
- Commit to the long haul
By viewing your Social Media campaign as a P2P connector (person-to-person) rather than focusing on B2B or B2C, your content will become more authentic and engaging. Just as your personal relationships weren’t built overnight, your online connections need time to build trust and interest in your brand.
- Warm up & pace yourself
Try different approaches to engage your audience. Be topical, ask questions, seek opinions, and respond to your fans. Discover the posting times that suit your audience base and post consistently during these times. By observing your results, you will find yourself fine-tuning your strategy and growing interaction at a steady pace.
Don’t forget that SWiM Communications, your digital communications partner, is always available for advice to keep you on course. We provide Social Media campaign solutions and management for all platforms.
Social Media marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Lace up your sneakers, establish your plan, train for endurance, and run a consistent race. You’ll smash it out!
