Social media is all about patience

Patience.

Thus crooned Axl Rose:

“Said “Woman, take it slow
It’ll work itself out fine
All we need is just a little patience”
Said “Sugar, make it slow
And we come together fine
All we need is just a little patience”
(patience)
Mmmm, yeah”

Marketers don’t like to say the word Patience. Especially to clients. And especially when they’re talking about things online. Think about it, the online marketers at an agency are in the interactive department. So named because the internet offers immediate interactivity. Potential customers are but one click away from buying stuff…

“All we need is just a little patience”

The letters ROI aren’t in the word Patience. But patience is in social media. Or it better be.

Because impatience is asking for the order all the damn time. And when a marketer asks for the order, “click here”, “buy me now”, “convert to a sale”, “order” said marketer is exhibiting impatience and becoming perilously close to a banner ad, an infomercial, or worse. (This isn’t meant to dis the craft of banner ad or infomercial making. Those tools might be useful for a product, and people richer than me got rich flogging stuff via infomercial. This is meant to say don’t be an infomercial in social media.)

“But how will this social media campaign work?”, people wonder. Many of those people being account people and/or clients.

This is when we as an agency have to sell ‘patience.’ Social media, if done right, can be classic brand building. But it takes time. Time to build credibility. Time to build influence. Time to build a community. It doesn’t matter what the goal is, it’s not something that can happen overnight.

When a person chooses to get information from a brand that isn’t a pitch, when it’s time to buy, it’s more likely that said brand will percolate up to the top of said person’s decision making noggin.

If we’re patient. if we’re not, we shouldn’t engage in social media. There are better places to be impatient. That’s my Best Practice.