Happy Anniversary!

Well, little blog, it's your first anniversary.  When I started you a year ago I wasn't exactly sure what I would do in this space, but I knew I wanted a place to store my thoughts and comment on marketing, public relations and social media - the trends, lessons and experiences I came across in my personal and professional life.

I also knew I needed to write as much as possible since my job as a marker is primarily focused on communicating clearly and concisely.

Here's to another fun year ahead!

Blogging for Business

Pop Digital Marketing created a great infographic explaining the blogging to businesses.  They cover everything you need to know about blogging: benefits, best practices, topic development and promotion.

Throwing in the Social Media Towel

Many brands are hopping on the social media bandwagon.  At first, social media marketing is new and exciting, so teams are likely to generate lots of content and new ideas during the launch phase of social media marketing.

The trouble is that as time goes by, content creation reaches a plateau and the appeal of social media marketing begins to wear off.

Social media marketers often suffer from writers block, building a list of followers and persisting when it feels they aren't making any headway.  The pressure of generating fresh content and staying top of mind with an audience can drain the motivation right out of the social media team.

That said, how do you know whether it's time to take a vacation or throw in the social media towel?

Here are three signs that you might need to throw in the social media towel:

You aren't posting anymore
One of the most important things to consider before starting a social media campaign is whether or not you'll be able to maintain a posting schedule.  Once you establish your following, they'll expect to hear from you on a regular basis.  If you find your social media strategy going stagnant, you either need to put in more effort or throw in the towel.

You're not succeeding 
There are lots of reasons you may not be succeeding - perhaps you're trying to promote your company, but nobody is buying what you're selling.  Obviously, if you've just launched your social media program you may need to give your efforts more time before you write them off.  If you've been at it for a while and you're still not seeing the results you want it's time to either switch up your strategy or throw in the towel.

You're too busy
Whether you're overwhelmed with new business or job creep is reducing the time you can devote to your social media program, you may reach a point where you just aren't able to find the time to sustain a successful social media program.  If your social media marketing strategy has become a chore rather than something you want to do, it's time to seriously evaluate the benefits and costs of your marketing efforts.  You have three choices: find the time yourself, delegate the responsibilities to someone else or abandon your social media program.