I am spending my next vacation taking sailing lessons. The school sent me a packet of books to study beforehand, and the first one — Sailing Made Easy — does not live up to its name.
In the first chapter, I was introduced to term after term that “every sailor must know” in order to safely navigate the seas. There’s an entire section devoted to how to board the boat. There’s a list of dangers that “even the most experienced sailors” may not know how to handle. I haven’t even reached the chapter about tying knots, but I peeked and there are a lot of them.
This information overload had me worried — if I don’t learn to do it all exactly right, I could be knocked out by the boom, plunge into icy waters, endanger my fellow sailors and/or get stranded in the middle of the ocean. (Picture Robert Redford in All Is Lost.) Then I realized that most of it will click once I actually get some hands-on experience.
And that’s pretty much how it is for marketers who are still trying to figure out how use social media for business. (Nice segue, huh?) One recent survey of marketing professionals showed that half of the respondents were not confident about their digital marketing skills. And why would they be? Just a few years ago, many chief executives were wary of jumping into social media. Now, those same executives hear that Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and YouTube are vital to any marketing strategy, and they want to know right now what the marketing department plans to do about it. Cue the “Jaws” theme song.
Gaining confidence
So a lot of marketers are playing catch-up. They feel overwhelmed by the demands of social media and how it will work for their company. Reading blog posts, attending workshops and listening to webinars can certainly lay the groundwork, but the only way to know what will work is to get that hands-on experience. Just do it.
And here’s where the confidence comes in. Marketing professionals already know their company’s point of view, the tone of its messaging and their audience. Social media does not change those things, so you don’t have to try to be edgy or funny if that doesn’t fit the company profile. Just think about your content from the standpoint of your audience — Would you find the content you’re posting informative, entertaining or inspiring? If the answer is yes, post it. If it’s no, try something else. And keeping trying things until you find out what works.
Looking to the experts
It’s also important to remember there’s no shame in getting help from somebody with more experience or more time to devote to your strategy and content. Pick the brain of a savvy colleague or hire an agency with social experience, and learn from them. You can also look at a company you like to see what succeeds and why in the same way you would for a traditional campaign. See what works — do more of that. See what doesn’t work — don’t do that again.
Becoming an expert yourself
Here’s the thing about those sailing lessons. There’s a good chance I will do something wrong. I will survive, though. And I’ll learn from it. And the more time I spend on a sailboat, the more natural it will feel. The jargon will trip off my tongue. I’ll learn more each time I go out, and I will be better able to sort out good advice from bad when I hear it. That’s all any marketing professional needs to do to overcome their fear of social media. Figure out how to get on board and then go with the flow.