Love is not just found in the intoxicating haze of romantic, but in countless other ways. Most of them pretty ordinary. I’ve found love in a cup of Marble Slab sweet cream icecream with marshmallows. Darn.

Yes, we all look for love. Something to love. Someone to love. And for companies and products in our lives that make it easier to do so. As a marketer, it was my job to communicate benefit and make customers fall in love with our products. When our overpaid agency submitted a flashy commercial, something in my B-school-taught DNA made me believe that I had gotten it right. My boss thought so too.

But, things have changed. Social media marketing is not about talking to people the way advertising talks to people – it’s about spreading the love and indulging in 2-way conversations. Getting social. The more I think about it, the more I know, social media marketing is simply about genuinely giving a damn. Passion is easy to share, even with strangers. But like love, it’s rather hard to fake.

Like, when she told you it’s not about the size, it’s how you use it. She was right. Social media marketing too, is not about the tools, it’s the way you use them. Just setting up a twitter account and a Facebook Fanpage, won’t cut it. Where is the love my friend? Products and ideas go viral when you can share them like gifts. Think Google Wave invites.

So, lets narrow down this whole social-media-is-about-love theory. Love begets love. Making a social gesture with a product, gives the product a social element. Something people can have conversations about. Seth Godin, calls this remarkability. We call it the WildPeeta-approach.
If your business wants to get started with social media marketing – think of it as falling in love. The stages of development are stunningly simliar and like love, it’s not deterministic. There could be a range of outcomes, and you have to be prepared for them all. Double darn.

The first date: Introductions and learning about the person on the other end of the table (Learn and listen to what customers are saying about online).
Early months: Establishing reason to maintain the relationship and learning to share (connecting with your followers regularly and giving them a reason to stay engaged with you)
Commitment: Being transparent, being vulnerable ( considering customer feedback more seriously and letting them in)
Marriage: Investing in a life together (customers willing to invest in your success, leads transalating into sales and your followers becoming an advocate of your brand)
..and bada-bing bada-boom: Co-creation. Yalla, babies (Collaborating with customers to create new products and new ways to message and market)

Yes, a well executed marketing campaign is an act of love. Social media marketing, my friends, is not about communicating benefit anymore. It’s about communicating conviction.

Are you ready?