Digital Marketing is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
Viral. It’s not a word that even five years ago most of us would be using in our day to day speech except during cold and flu season. Now, it seems that every day we hear about someone trying to make something go viral, something that has gone viral or someone trying to sell you the ability to make you or your business go viral.
Yes, having a large, immediate and far-reaching impact on your business or campaign can have positive effects. We can’t deny that. When using digital media, you will generally have times when you see a spike in your average volume or activity. But here’s the thing about getting hung up on trying to make everything go viral, pardon the pun but you’ll probably end up making your business sick.
We are seeing more and more social media and digital marketing platforms change their algorithms and terms of service to try and prevent click bait, engagement bait or forms of quick-hit viral marketing that doesn’t focus on your overall business goals or the experience of your customers. What this means is while you are trying to come up with the flashiest, catchiest campaign and telling everyone you know to “Like and Share” what you are doing is damaging your brand reputation. You could be annoying a lot of your customers who care about your business and products instead of that cat video with your logo superimposed on it and connecting with people who are only interested in a $50 gift card and won’t ever do anything to make your business money.
So is there a place for viral marketing? Yes, but it is a very limited scope that shouldn’t be your overall goal as a business looking to use digital marketing. “Going viral” is not a business goal. Digital marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. It doesn’t happen overnight. It takes months and sometimes years to grow a strong, invested community online that helps your business objectives. And yes, it is a hard lesson to accept that if you want to see benefits from social media and online marketing that it will take work and time invested when everything out there tells you it’s all about instant gratification and overnight success. Keep in mind though; you aren’t trying to create a business that has one good day and then nothing for months at a time. You are trying to create and grow a business that over time builds a loyal, dedicated customer base that brings in other people to join them based on the positive customer experience they have with you, so why isn’t that also your goal with your social media and digital marketing?
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