November 7, 2019
We recently saw the amazing Kipchoge run the marathon in under two hours. Kipchoge and his team achieved this after their dedication and focus over many, many months.
So, you are asking yourself, what has this got to do with social? Here’s why!
The big ‘C’ – commitment
Like a marathon, social media marketing requires a long-term commitment. You can’t achieve the distance or a personal best without focus, dedication and time management, as well as an understanding on what you’re entering.
Many companies start up on social, post for a month, don’t see their follower numbers increasing, and start to doubt if social is for them. If you are training for a marathon, would you do the same and train for four weeks and expect the best result?
Ok I get it, what do I need to do?
We have pulled together three milestones to help you achieve that commitment and meet your goal.
Choose the right run
You pick a marathon suited to the result you want to achieve. It’s the same with social media – you need to choose the social media platform that works for your brand to achieve the result you want. We know Instagram is focused on images and live stories. If that doesn’t fit your brand or you don’t feel that your audience is on Instagram then don’t sign up for it. By choosing the right platforms for your brand, ensures you will continue to focus your efforts where you’ll see the best performance results.
Engage and be social
Being active on social media doesn’t just mean you post about your new product, then walk away; any more than marathon training means buying a new pair of trainers and then not going out for a run. It means engaging in a conversation, responding to comments and choosing posts that will be interesting to followers. Runners are a large community who smile, wave, chat to each other, share stories of things that happen on runs, how their training is going and importantly ask you how you are. This applies just as much to social media too.
Train and pace
You need to achieve a steady pace with the marathon and the same is true for social media marketing to get the result you want. This includes scheduling regular engaging content so people see value in engaging with you. Tracking your social media performance metrics is crucial as it tells you what is working so you can maintain it. Marathon runners are constantly tracking their performance, good runs vs bad runs, and what worked.
So, if we have convinced you that social media is a marathon, not a sprint, then we are here to help you get to that start line. Drop us a line at to have a chat about all things social.
(This blog has been written by an IF member who is embarking on a training programme for the London Marathon 2020 and as result is becoming a wee bit obsessed with all things 26.2 miles related).