Social media marketing takes a lot of work. How many times have you turned on the news and seen an overnight success story? Maybe it's an author who was a total unknown a few weeks ago, but now thanks to a single, viral review they've skyrocketed to the top of the bestseller lists. Or maybe it was the local business that was on the verge of bankruptcy, but thanks to one lucky video that got shared and re-shared across social media, the owners have now paid off their debts, and are in the black for the first time in years.
It's hard not to get caught up in the fantasy of these stories. The kind of, “if only I could win the lottery,” escapism that strikes whenever we hear them. However, it's important to remember that viral social media marketing success is a lot like a magic trick. Because a lot of stuff goes on behind the scenes that you never see, but it's still the foundation of the trick's success.
The Elements Of Your Avalanche
Social media success is a lot like an avalanche. What gets all the attention is when the loud noise rings out, and then all the snow careens down the side of the mountain, destroying everything in its path. In this metaphor, that mountain worth of snow and ice is the deluge of sales, likes, shares, retweets, and other activity that you get on social media. However, avalanches don't happen without an appropriate buildup. You have to get ahead of the trends, and create that noise, according to Sprout Social.
What are the elements you need to have in place, though? Well, you need to have a mountain, for starters, and you need to stack the snow and ice in such a way that it's ready to be leveraged. Lastly, though, you need to have that loud noise that brings it all tumbling down. That crack, though, is the final step in social media success, not the first.
There is, of course, no guarantee that the avalanche you want to happen is going to occur. And even if it does happen, there's no guarantee that it's going to happen in the direction, and on the scale, that you want it to. The beauty, of course, is that if you have the mountain in place, you can always try again.
Build The Mountain, And The Avalanche Will Come
So, if the avalanche is the huge, social media success, what is the mountain?
The mountain is your social media presence. It's your business's page, and it's your history. It represents the audience you're amassing, and all the work you're doing to create and build your brand. And it is not something you can amass overnight. The more time and energy you put into building up your mountain, the more likely you are to get an avalanche. Why? Because you've put in the time and the effort to make sure you have the proper height, and that you have the right amount of snow, held precariously at just the right angle.
What that means is actually pretty simple. It means you need to have a plan for your social media. You need to have a schedule, you need to interact with your followers, and you need to be sure you listen to the feedback they give you. You need to keep an eye on the numbers, and track cause and effect. Most importantly, though, you need to make sure that you give your social media platform the time and energy it needs in order to grow.
An investment in your social media presence will pay off. But if you don't put in the work to grow a mountain, you're never going to get the avalanche of attention you want. For more information on what you need to do in order to achieve social media marketing success, simply contact us today!
