Social Media Shortcuts: There are none

…there are no shortcuts. Well, maybe.

Weight loss. Social media results. What do those two have in common?

A lot.

Want to lose weight? To get results it takes time, patience and a strategy. There are no real shortcuts and the ones that we often see are too good to be true.

Surprise, surprise. The same goes for social media. We’ve all seen the “Get Followers Fast” schemes but then what? You get the followers but that doesn’t guarantee you will be successful or that they are real, for that matter.

Have a goal & executable plan: Whether it is to lose x pounds, x percent body fat, get more toned, having a goal in mind will guide you and keep you focused.  In the social media context, that would mean deciding why you want to participate in blogs, twitter, Facebook and so on.  Is it to increase visibility,  engagement, number of people talking about your brand, listening? Is it to get product ideas, keep tabs on your competitors, listen to your customers? Or is it to find new customers, business development or  meet and connect with like-minded individuals?

Strategy: How will you reach your goals? What is your strategy?  If you are trying to lose weight are you going to try anything and everything or will you consult a personal trainer who may propose and guide you with several different techniques? Same thing goes with social media. Are you going to sign up for every site and just hope that it works. Or will you analyze and research which sites better align with your goals? What next? How will you ensure that you meet your goals?

Effort: How often will you flex that (social media) muscle? Will you tweet/facebook/blog everyday?  The results will depend on your effort as there is no get rich quick scheme. Anything that looks too good to be true most probably is.

The only real shortcut? For a weight-loss quick fix, probably surgery.

In the twitter world, that would be in the form of promoted tweet, whereby companies can have a tweet appear at the top of search results.  Not sure how much they cost but so far I’ve only seen big brands (read: big bucks) using them.  Promoted trends will show a topic that has been sponsored at the bottom of the regular trending topics list. This is a paid shortcut if you like, allowing companies to bypass the relationship building, engaging and get right to the top!

Your ROI on social media won’t happen over-night. But if you take the time to think about what it is you want to accomplish you will be better positioned to start and be guided by your goals and strategy.

Thoughts?

Update: I wrote a post about Breathing Life into Your Online Presence, which can definitely help once you have decided where to begin or if you are stuck on what to do next.