Social media marketing is difficult for most organizations, and it’s not all that hard to figure out why. They start strong, but after some time lose interest or get frustrated with their results. In general, they view social networking as an event – not a process.

The Super Bowl is an event. Setting up a trade show booth or attending a sales conference is an event, or having sales promotion. These have a distinct beginning and end.

On the other hand, dating is a process; losing weight is a process (if done correctly!); building a brand is definitely a process. And once success has been achieved, it must be maintained.

Events are a lot easier to manage, to budget and pay for, and get excited about. (Think of the excitement generated by the Super Bowl, for example) They can be placed on a calendar.

But this isn’t what creating an online community or following is all about. Often social media doesn’t have an immediate, or easily identified, ROI number that you can assign to it, as you can with most events.

A process builds results for the long haul. Go into your social marketing and communications with this in mind, and you are far more likely to be successful.