NOVEMBER 2019 Social Media Success Awaits you! (But Be Prepared To Put In The Work)

THIS ISSUE Publisher's Notes - Letters - Facility of the Month - Organization of the Month - Male Pro of the Month Female Pro of the Month - Spotlight Pickleball - Suzanna McGee Fitness - Marsha Friedman PR Trending - Rod Heckelman - Javier Palenque - Roger Stenquist - Rich Neher Feature - Gary Horvath Chris Hagman - Joshua Jacobs - Where Are They Now?

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I've often shared my thoughts on how social media can be a great way to spread your message and promote your brand, but as with most things, that advice comes with a few caveats.

One of those is this: You need to have realistic expectations and understand just how much time and work it entails. "Overnight success" doesn't happen overnight.
Unfortunately, not everyone realizes that.
Let me give you an example of what I mean. Recently a potential client approached us about helping him promote himself on social media. It quickly became clear that what he hoped to accomplish didn't match what was possible for him - at least at this stage. He was an entertainer who wanted to make it big with pay-per-view video, and he assumed that a publicity campaign through social media would swiftly send eager fans flocking to what he had to offer, their credit cards at the ready.

The problem was that he was not a big name in his field, and was a long way from building the kind of following that could result in his ultimate goal. He no doubt looked around the social media world and saw people with hundreds of thousands of followers. He seemed to assume accomplishing that kind of success was just a matter of buying your way in.

But it's not that easy. If it were, everyone would be a social media sensation!
My husband, Steve (also my partner in business), used to have his own lighthearted way of dealing with people who thought that launching a PR campaign meant they should immediately have top-tier journalists and nationally known talk-show hosts lining up to interview them. Steve would tell them to look out their window and let him know if the paparazzi were there waiting to take his picture. This never failed to make his point.

For most of us, the media are not hovering at the doorstep, ready to cling to our every word. This holds true for building a following on social media as well.
But that's not to say you can't become a popular social media influencer or successfully build your brand on your social media platforms. You absolutely can! Just don't think it's as easy as putting up a post or two and waiting for something extraordinary to happen.

With that said, let me share a few thoughts on three things you can do to get yourself started in the right direction:

• Research. Decide what your goal is and then do some research on what it will take to get there. How have others carved out a place for themselves and what lessons can you learn from their experiences? You'll quickly realize that successful people and brands rarely arrived at their success by happenstance. They put in the hours, the practice, and whatever else it took to excel. Even Coca-Cola, one of the world's best-known brands, endured weak sales and a financial loss its first year of business back in the 1800s.
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• Commit. Once you've done your research, it's time to commit to what you want to do! There's an old saying that a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step. A publicity campaign - on social media or otherwise - is a marathon, not a sprint. You need to make a pledge to yourself that you're ready for the challenge!
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• Persist. Remember Coca-Cola's early heartbreak? That now-famous brand didn't give up after its faltering start. More than a century later, the necessity to persevere remains the same, even if the means for promoting your brand have changed. A day, a week, or even a month of social media interactions may not move the needle to any great extent. But stick with it! Those who succeed in the publicity game are those who keep plugging away.
  

People who achieve great things on social media may make it look easy, but that's because you don't see the countless hours, tears, fits and starts behind their success.

Jay York, the senior digital-marketing strategist at News & Experts, shared with me a perhaps apocryphal tale about Pablo Picasso that makes this point. The artist was painting on a bridge one day when a woman asked him to draw a picture of her. He dashed out a quick sketch. The woman asked him how much she owed him and he responded $5,000. "But that just took you 10 seconds!" she exclaimed. "No," Picasso replied, "it took me a lifetime."

OK, maybe (hopefully) it won't take you a lifetime to master social media's brand-promoting capabilities, but the point remains the same. Great success requires great effort.

In it for the long haul!

Marsha

P.S. If you want professional advice on getting the most out of your publicity efforts, give us a call at 727-443-7115 ext. 0 or simply send me an email.