Is Social Media Marketing a Rat Race?

by Brett Borders on June 23, 2009

Many people criticize the corporate world as a “rat race” – a meaningless, ruthless existence. But from what I can tell, the lifestyle of a social media professional can sometimes be even more grueling, competitive and stressful than that of a top corporate exec.

Social media never slow downs or takes breaks. It just keeps going. image: tatrattery

When it’s just for personal gratification, social media is lots of fun. But for those who want to make their ideas and campaigns explode on a mass scale (with any kind of consistency) – it demands an incredible investment of time, energy and attention. The pressure to find, consume, share and create new content is relentless. The complex web of social relationships and implicit obligations multiply quickly – many new backs and egos need scratching. Endless reading and learning is required in order to keep your position.

Publish, Ping or Perish

The academic maxim “publish or perish” applies just as much to the online world. Social media people have an incredibly short attention span and tend to forget about people and destinations that aren’t compelling and clockwork consistent. The fickleness is especially harsh on Digg.com – where people will drop you as a friend if you don’t digg their stories for just a few days. When people get sick or go on vacation – they change their username to something like “Gone to Hawaii for 5 days- PLEASE, PLEASE don’t Delete me!”

On Twitter, too, you have to hustle to keep people paying attention to your updates and links. Ping people, praise people, retweet people in order to stay “tight” with them – or many will flake and quickly forget you and get enamored with the hot new social media girl or guy.

Tips for Making the the Race More Manageable

1. Pay Attention in Small Doses – There’s no way you can read everything, answer every e-mail or @reply, or interact with everyone (and still get stuff done). So interact with more people on a limited basis. Think one or two word replies. A blog comment or a RT once every couple of weeks will keep the door open to a larger number of people – they won’t think you forgot them.

2. Focus and Specialize – Some people have focused really intensively on one particular site or scene, and they aren’t burdened with trying to learn everything. There’s people who just do green social media consulting. Or people who just focus on LinkedIn. Or on Wordpress. That one section of the social media universe is more manageable.

3. Get Help and Support – Pro power users like Chris Brogan, Brian Clark and Guy Kawasaki have evolved past being “one man shows” and have assembled small, dedicated teams of support. Their virtual assistants and partners to help with some of the more tedious aspects of maintaining their presence – like editing posts, booking flights and finding fresh links.

4. Be Okay with Being Human – Not everyone can be an omniscient industry thought leader or Top 10 power user. Some people have too much of a balanced life, care too much about their spouse or kids, or have important tasks that need their focused attention for several hours a day. Don’t feel guilty for being human and not spending 18 hours a day online if it’s not for you. Make good friends with someone who does and download their notes.

Does social media marketing ever feel like a “rat race” to you? Or not? How do you deal with the pace and learning curve?

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  • between the time I get home and finish dinner and the time I go to sleep I've only got a precious couple hours to catch up on emails, reading, and engage in social media. Even trying to keep pace on it as an area of interest can feel exhausting, and building a network without actually producing content is an even slower process. any recommendations on how to build a responsive and conversive network of thought leaders? my main goal is less recognition and more meaningful connections/conversations.
  • Maayan,

    I think it's important to do what you can to help those though
    leaders without blatantly kissing their ass or worshiping them (some
    hate that). Digg them. Retweet them. Regularly comment on their
    blog. They'll notice you eventually. Subtly and sincerely offer to
    help them out - review their book, answer their questions, volunteer
    for their projects. After you think they've started to notice you and
    respond a little, just ease into the conversation with them more
    directly and build raport and trust. Then and only then, ask them to
    help you with anything or check out your stuff. Give before you try to
    get.

    Good luck!
  • This article is very true Brett. I set my alarm for 5:00 every morning to get up and spend a couple of hours reading, interacting and tweeting. The day is often just too busy to have the time to keep on top of all your social media connections, and your right, if you don't you can quickly lose your edge. All relationships in life take work, and social media ones are no different. Sometimes we might try and reach more people than we can truly manage though and that isn't always realistic. We need to be careful that our drivenness to succeed doesn't eventually lead to burnout. So it's true that we need to pace ourselves and focus & specialize so that we can stay in there for the long haul, enjoying it as much as we should.
  • Glenn,

    It can really be quite grueling. I felt the sting of the race after I had an operation and had to spend two weeks lying in bed on a large concoction of pills - my brain was totally out of it and I could feel the pulse of it all just slipping away.

    To avoid burnout, I try really hard not to do computer first thing in the morning and last thing at night. There have been many days where I litterlly woke up, rubbed my eyes, fired up the laptop and started cranking on stuff... taking a few breaks throughout the day to eat.. and then just continuing until 11:30 pm and suffering from exuastion, brush my teeth and fall asleep.

    I've found that having a buffer of "organic" time in the morning and evening before I get into computer gear really helps/.
  • That sounds like a solid strategy Brett. Often times we have to learn the hard way no matter how much someone tells us. A number of years ago I had kidney stones because I was going night and day and forgetting to eat. I was drinking too much coke & coffee to keep going and not getting a balanced diet with enough water. After going thru it, it's really changed me. I never want to experience that again in my life! I now eat 3x a day, drink 6-8 glasses of water, drink a maximum of 2 cups of coffee and try and go to the gym 5 days a week. I also limit the amount of nights I can go out in the evening so that I can have enough time with my family. It's made a huge difference for me and my energy levels are much higher. It sounds like you've been making similar changes in the way you plan your schedule that have been helping you getting the time you need to replenish and reflect. Keep it up as you definitely have a lot to share to enrich others as I look forward to your posts.
  • Ah...I have absolutely no idea how I can stop at this point or take a break. I'm hoping I'll have interns at some point...maybe? Who knows...
  • Stuart,

    I think interns / staff are a good idea past a certain point. It's really just way too big for one mere mortal.
  • Have to agree it can get a bit overwhelming , especially with something like Twitter. I guess you have to accept the fact that you cant maintain contacts with everyone and have to manage your contacts in a way that is comfortable for you :)
  • Nishadha,

    I think what makes it so difficult is that it's so easy to expand faster than your schedule can allow. So easy to add friends / feeds / projects that take a lot of time - and no easy way out of it once you get going.

    I think we are all living and learning and will figure it out ;)
  • Guest
    Phew! We're not the only ones! One important thing to remember is that you can create new connections or refresh old ones as quickly as some drop you. The 'real-time' memory is short--quick to forget, quick to forget they forgot you! Most importantly, cultivate, nourish, nurture those relationships with people with the elephant memory, the people who remember and care enough to ask "How's the family?" at the company picnic.

    Sara @ iGoMogul
  • Thanks Brett, for speaking up on behalf of most of us here.

    I do agree it won't always be a joyous experience when you're networking since it requires massive time, energy and sacrifices as well. Apart loving the fellowship, but when it comes to research, keep up with the latest, maintain on-going relationships along with other tasks at hand.. I think we all know where it'll lead to then. Leisure and Work on social media, is a mix-feeling. Which is sometimes I admire the network blogs, or co-authorship, also collaborations of some sort would be a benefit for busy bloggers. However it is, like most of the commenters have stated here, we need to work out something for this problem, and the sooner the better.

    Think you've just sparked the interest of me wishing to find out the answers as well.

    @wchingya
    social media/blogging
  • I think so. Once you lost for even a day is a lost of value to your social media campaign. You have to be constant.
  • It too often does feel like a rat race. Like right now, I am hopelessly behind on my RSS reads and have barely Twittered in weeks. Mainly because I have real life stuff and more tangible projects I must focus on (some upcoming Burning Man collaborations included).

    I try to remember that while social media is very "what have you done for me lately," it also means when you finally do come back to it, you can pick up the buzz again relatively quickly. Those who defriend, ignore and stop RTing you if I'm away for a while tend to fall off my radar. Those who maintain contact over time, breaks expected, are the ones with whom the more superficial social media connections develop into deeper working relationships.

    Great article, btw. I was nodding my head in agreement the whole way.
  • Its true you can't do it all but the social media scene helps startups and new product/brands and companies get their name to the public much quicker and at an affordable price allowing to get feedback from customers at the speed of light. its benefits far outweighs the consequences giving power back to the consumer. it is a power that is learned but when harnessed correctly reaps plenty of results
  • Excellent advice, Brett. I as well feel often a bit claustrophobic by the increasing pressure social media is exerting on me, and all of us for that matter, since it's growing every day, directly proportional with the difficulty in keeping up. Nowadays, I'm just keeping up with my blogs and twitter. I really don't have the time to care to all my social presences on the web, because it's really not worth it getting involved too much.
  • I am tired.......even maintaining my blog now is more "work"....ie it seems so outdated and slow....I use mainly FB and Twitter now, and admit that I haven't looked at LinkedIn in weeks....some days I just want to completely unplug..and then suddenly on a quiet Saturday, will find myself going great guns again..I guess it is like anything...it is something to manage and not have to be "perfect" at....
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