Slow and steady wins the race. It’s a great motto for companies to keep in mind while embarking into social media marketing. All too often, companies expect immediate results when investing time and money into their marketing tools. Social media marketing doesn’t fit that bill.

It can be very exciting to join in the Twitter and Facebook feeding frenzy. Every one is doing it and many companies hire an outside firm to manage their social media for them. It doesn’t take long to acquire hundreds of “likes” on Facebook or thousands of followers on Twitter. But company execs need to know that this initial volume does not equate to sales. In fact, few will see any jump in revenue at all in those first 30 or 60 days. The biggest mistake is to fall off the map and cancel their Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Social media marketing takes time. You can’t expect to build brand recognition overnight so expecting revenue increases with Twitter and Facebook in a week is unrealistic. The point is establishing that personal interaction with your customers. Those relationships need to be nurtured and companies have to provide content for readers and create that need for products and services.

Think of social media marketing as the mile run and not the 50-yard dash. Long-distance runners build up stamina the same way a company builds a reputation. After launching a few digital campaigns within the first months of your social media marketing trial should help to bring in more customers and sales. Target specific followers and cater the content provided to them at the most optimal times.

Perhaps most importantly, integrate your social media campaign with your content marketing. If you blog about a topic, focus on the same topic in your social media posts. If you issue a press release, that should be the main subject line in your next Facebook post. You want to send the consistent message, and make sure it’s something your audience wants to know. Remember, it isn’t a place to shout out your news, but instead share experiences.

If you’re not sure how to make it all fit together, we can help. Post something on one of our social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn – and we can help you figure out your marathon strategy in the new year.