Lead and they will follow. With social media, the problem  can be in finding somewhere to go.

This week I visited with another marketing practitioner. He was telling me about his frustration after experimenting with a successful Facebook initiative. Now that he has it, he cannot find a practical application.

A couple of years ago my friend started a Facebook page dedicated to a small breed of dog. Since then he has collected more than 20,000 followers. The people who like the page post pictures of their pets and comment on other posts. He is trying to figure out how to monetize his efforts.

Being a savvy person, he thinks that his time should have some larger benefit. He has offered to promote dog related businesses (veterinarians, groomers, pet stores, dog trainers, etc.) using his platform. So far no one is interested, regardless of what he charges.

Plan Your Social Media

I understand why my friend is disappointed. Like the Pied Piper, he accumulated a following but cannot find a place to lead them. He neglected to establish an objective for his activities before he started and now is scrambling for a practical outcome. If he cannot sell the marketing possibilities to compatible businesses, the opportunity will be lost.

While there are countless examples of companies who recognized and implemented available marketing opportunities after things were rolling, pre-planning and methodic execution of all marketing initiatives have a far greater probability for success. Why? Because if you know where you are going you are far more likely to get there and do it efficiently. If you just head in a direction, you may have an interesting journey but it may not get you anywhere.

Success with your social media initiatives for marketing is more assured if you first determine reasonable objectives, establish the underlying concept and then execute your plan consistently. It is more difficult to first lead the children out of town and then decide where to go, how to feed them, and why doing this has any benefit for you.

Plan all your marketing activities before you begin.

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