people who don’t do social media tend to expect social media strategies to result in shell-shocking “viral” explosions of instant gratification and 23298412048 “Likes.”

social media management really is, ultimately, a FULL-TIME job, and a hard one. getting clients to understand the nature of resource commitment can be difficult enough; getting them to understand the nature of what constitutes productive results can be harder. that’s because getting eye-popping results is hard; and a slow-burn is hard to sell. which is why, if you’ve won the client, it’s really important to formulate a strategy that is stupid detailed, with clearly designated roles, and a solid phase two concept; so you don’t work your butt off to create a program that flops. remember the movie “Ocean’s Eleven?” a badass [ie. successful] social media strategy should resemble the layers of precision ole Brad and George employed to orchestrate the perfect heist. ok, maybe not exactly, but damn close.

i think it’s important to help clients understand what is possible for them, in light of this. a small business who can’t dedicate necessary full-time resources/budget to manage a long-term social media program, can still play — perhaps opting to start fires with flash campaigns that are short, specific and have clear beginnings and ends.

once you’ve asked enough of the right questions and done your research on the potential client, you can go from there to tailor a successful strategy that will work within their budget/resources.