Social media marketing is not just for Christmas

My wife and I have just spent an incredible two weeks in a self-catering cottage in Scotland, lent to us by my brother-in-law. As part-payment, I agreed to build him a website and social media strategy, and impressed myself no end with what I was able to pull together. It’s amazing how many website templates are online and what astonishing results even a Luddite like me can build. And with the likes of Twitter and Facebook, it is even more  straightforward for small businesses to build a decent social media presence.

Secret Marketer

Since we were on holiday, it was also very easy to do daily tweets and posts based on what we did. As a result, we quickly developed a decent following on both social media networks – at least of other businesses – but hopefully that in turn will lead to paying punters too.

But that was then. Since we got back, we have been so busy that we have failed to keep the daily messaging going – all those plans and promises – I mean, how long does it take to post 140 characters?

Part of the problem is the day job – CMO for a major brand is a full-time job – not least in catching up after two weeks away. One of the tasks in my inbox was a request from my legal director to develop a blog that he wants to use to inform the world of his thoughts on the latest happenings in the corporate world. He is full of good intentions, I am sure he has the knowledge, and with some guidance, it should be relatively interesting.

But – and this is my personal lesson – very much like Labrador puppies, social media is not just for Christmas. If you are serious about it, you have to commit to be interesting at least once a day – potentially for the rest of your life. Now can he, hand-on-heart, commit to doing that? No matter how much other work he has, no matter how ill he feels, or where he is on holiday – can he commit to thinking up something topical, interesting and thought-provoking and communicate it to the airwaves every day? A bit like this column, I guess, although I do have a week in which to find 400 words of pithy, creative, engaging insight.

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