Social Media Strategy: So Much More than Tips & Tactics
Have you been seduced by promises of “get rich quick” formulas? If so, you are not alone. However, the truth of long term success is more of a “road less traveled.”
I wish I was here with a quick fix, but I’m not.
My experiences as a social media strategist and web marketing mentor tell me that if you want to make a real difference—both for our world and for your business—it’s going to take a commitment to a process, a journey involving experimentation and missteps, and perhaps most of all, a willingness to do some serious inquiry about why you are in this game in the first place.
Finding Marketing Inspiration
On my own journey to online marketing “well-being,” a couple of things have inspired me recently. They also inform the nature of the journey to meaningful, long term success.
The first inspiration came via a podcast that is also a Creative Live video. In this episode shown below, host and Creative Live founder Chase Jarvis interviews one of the true Internet marketing thought leaders, originator of the term “permission marketing” and author of 18 NYTimes best selling books, Seth Godin.
The part of this interview that jumped out at me is where Seth says at the end of the segment (15:51-21:09):
“We are living the most crowded creative universe in history… You are NOT entitled to ANY attention. You are NOT entitled to ANY leverage. BUT, if you dig ever deeper into the stuff that truly matters, you may EARN some attention.”
Ah, I love that phrase, “earning attention.” More noise, more content or even following some supposedly “magic” formula will not cut it in today’s marketplace.
Digging deeper in order to determine, over time, “the stuff that truly matters” is pretty much the only thing that will create authentic engagement.
In other words, if you’re not offering a product or service that is truly valuable and/or if your content doesn’t stand out as something exceptional, then it’s virtually impossible to be successful—no matter whose formula you follow. Even the most brilliant tips and tricks will not win you meaningful success.
Making Social Media Marketing Meaningful
The second inspiration that has uplifted me recently is the book, Get Some Headspace by Andy Puddicombe, founder of Headspace.com and the “how to learn to meditate” app with the same name.
What impressed me about this book was the way that Puddicombe talks about what it takes for people to learn meditation and develop a meditation practice. I made an immediate connection to the way people try to learn social media marketing. Just like with meditation, people often give up quickly. In both cases—learning online marketing and learning meditation—people are required to become engaged in a process, take a journey. Again, no quick fixes, no “silver bullet.”
Usefully, Puddicombe breaks this process down into three stages so that people know it’s not a “one and done” kind of thing. First, he talks about learning how to approach learning mediation. Kind of like learning how to learn, but more explicitly he encourages people to think carefully about how they want to approach this kind of learning.
Then, in a second stage, he talks about how to develop meditation as a practice, how to implement it. And finally, he pulls it all together in a third stage, which is how to integrate your learning into your long term way of living.
In the case of social media marketing, this would be analogous to learning how to integrate your blogging or your social media posts into your ongoing business practices.
As a social media mentor and strategist, it seems to me that this kind of three-stage, realistic approach makes very good sense. Especially because I see so much of what’s going on as being based on an expectation that goes something like this, “Hey, here’s a strategy (a formula etc). I’ll just sign up for this program; and before you know it, I’ll have a six figure income.”
That’s clearly bullshit, but even more than beyond those kinds of bullshit offers is the idea that we are committing to a process. It needs to become a practice. For example, Seth Godin recommends that people blog daily, and pretty much everyone says that meditation or exercise needs to be practiced regularly.
So, how do I recommend that you approach learning to do social media marketing?
I believe that ONLY with this kind of approach, will you be able to be who you truly are, communicate on a sustainable basis, and build the authentic long-term relationships that are necessary for meaningful success.
Inspired by Puddicombe’s approach, here’s my first draft of the three stages of how to develop a social media marketing practice:
- Learn How to Approach Learning Social Media & Your Messaging:
- What really matters to you?
- What meaningful value can you offer?
- How is what you are doing different and an expression of your unique gifts?
- Work with a coach or mentor to get started on the right foot, inspired by your own Authentic Voice.
- Get to Work by Experimenting Consistently So Content Creation Becomes a Practice:
- Experiment in ways that nurture and develop your Authentic Voice.
- Explore ways to enhance your value. Try blogging. Try video production. Experiment with webinars and video chats such as Facebook Live or Blab.im.
- Develop a content calendar, a schedule and stick to it. Consistency is key.
- Get feedback. Make requests of your audience for feedback via surveys. Develop a community or tribe of supporters you trust to give you useful input.
- Discovery How to Integrate Content Creation into Your Business Processes:
- Allow content creation to evolve into a team effort.
- Create alignment amongst your team—virtual or otherwise—so that your online marketing efforts are sustainable, easy and fun.
- Establish business systems, “playbooks” and processes so that the high quality of your content can be maintained and continually improved.
The Marketing Road Less Traveled
As Robert Frost famously wrote:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
My commitment is to your success, not just more money (that too), but most importantly the invaluable opportunity to make our world a better place.
May all of your success be well-earned with the icing on the cake of enjoying the journey.
I welcome and appreciate feedback via my various social media accounts. I look forward to hearing from you.
