Introduction To Social Media Part 6

A content-based audience relationship approach to social media marketing sets different expectations compared to other ways of defining this type of marketing. When you read the typical social media marketing book, for example, "How to Dominate Twitter," the focus in on traffic

Unfortunately, if that is your main goal, you end up with a "the more the better" mindset and you feel really depressed at the end of the day because the traffic doesn't come. Even if it does, there's not going to be enough of it. You have set yourself up to fail.

 

When you use a content-based audience relationship building approach to social media marketing, your focus is on getting the right content in front of the right eyeballs to build the right levels of trust.

 

This is a long term game. It is definitely a marathon and not a sprint. Since that is your expectation coming in, you position yourself for long term victory. You're not going to be the typical failed social media marketer who jumps into the game with both feet only to find out that the traffic simply isn't there. So what do they do? That's right, they quit.

 

Manage your expectations by focusing on the right definition and you will be okay. The worst thing that you can do right now is to sabotage any chance of future success by defining the problem the wrong way and filling your mind with all the wrong expectations.

 

Social Media Marketing can Build Brands If...

 Now that we've defined social media marketing, the next step is to focus on the end result of this content-based audience relationship building approach. If you do everything right, you walk away with a brand. Let me tell you, that is the best asset you will ever have.

Now, in terms of real world traffic, you may get a low to moderate level of traffic. But if you build a solid brand, that traffic is all you need. That is qualified traffic. These are not random people just blindly clicking on links out of curiosity. These are people who are actually interested in whatever it is you are trying to sell. They want to truly learn more.

 

They want to build a relationship with you because they want to know what you're about, like what you have to offer, and eventually trust whatever it is you are pushing. These are real people. And this is only possible if you build a solid brand. You have to deliver solid value.

 

I wish I could tell you that content marketing is enough to do it. I really wish that I can say that, but that is not true. That only explains part of the situation. Sure, you have to deliver content that people truly are interested in, but at the end of the day, when they join your list, they are expecting and deserve value.

 

That's how you build a solid brand. When people join your list, they will quickly find out that they did not waste their time because you send high quality updates that actually add value to their lives. Social media marketing can explode the rate at which brands are formed. That's why a lot of people are ranting and raving about social media marketing, but a lot of them are clueless as to how to build a solid brand. Most of the time, they just stumbled into it.

 

I've let you in on the secret. It's all about content-based audience relationship building. There are many different parts to that equation, and I'm going to walk you through them in a practical way in the following chapters. In this section, I just want you to wrap your mind around the definition and the expectations that flow from it. This is how we tightly define the project that you are going to embark on.

 

Anything less, chances are, you're going to beat yourself up unnecessarily because you just had unrealistic expectations. This is not one of those get rich quick schemes. This is not one of those overnight success stories. This requires real work. This is the real deal. Are you ready for the journey? Great.