3 Unrealistic Promises Made About Social Media

It’s easy to get overly ambitious when making the case for social media.

When the board room is finally ready to listen, we breathlessly explain the social media sea change and how our organization can ride the wave.

And in our excitement, we sometimes make the case too well. We make it seem too easy. We make it seem like this no-brainer marketing move literally requires no brain (or resources, or money, or time, or strategy). 

In the spirit of not setting unrealistic expectations in this easy-to-get-carried-away industry and focusing on the long-term, here are 3 unrealistic promises often made about social media:

1. “We should be able to see results quickly.”

Social media is relationship-based, and relationships take time to grow. Building an audience online takes time and effort.

For instance, if you break down the output of the top 10 blogs on AdAge’s Power 150, you’ll find that the average blog has been producing content for nearly 2,500 days. Their average post is 1,278 words, and on average, they publish about 2.4 posts per day. That takes stamina and time. There are no overnight successes.

2. “We can do it with fewer resources than other initiatives.”

Tools and access might be free, but hours spent by humans are not. Social media talked its way onto marketing budget with promises of being a low-cost alternative. But what most organizations are seeing is that success requires investment (time and money) – just like in any other marketing arena.

“But with social media, we can automate, right??”

Yes, you can (kind of). But there even automation isn’t automated, or ideal.

3. “We should be able to guarantee that type of performance.”

The internet is nothing if it isn’t mercurial. Things change on a seemingly hourly basis. Performance metrics are difficult to predict with a sometimes finicky crowd. And exponential growth isn’t available in ever niche (nor should we want it to be but that’s another post all together).

Promising viral content – or even guaranteeing traction – is a fool’s errand. Instead of touting the ability to generate huge results just because a lot of people “use” social media (and thinking you’ll achieve said results just by showing up), focus on selling upper management on commitment to an ongoing process of trial, testing, analysis and improvement.

Social media can have a huge impact on your organization, but it won’t be quick or easy.

[Image: andrew k]