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by Kenneth Rudich  

Ever been on an old fashioned roller coaster ride?  

Shortly after leaving the loading platform you find yourself at the base of the first and highest peak of the track.  Then the roller coaster begins the climb upward.  In the face of excited anticipation, it feels like an agonizingly slow and tedious process.  You can hear the conveyor belt underneath laboring as it strains to make the cars defy gravity.  The distance seems longer than it really is.  

At the summit, the roller coaster pauses for an ever so tentative second before finally creeping over the crest.  And that’s when it happens.  Right then and there is the defining moment we now recognize as the tipping point.
 
The next thing you know — Whoosh!  It’s like suddenly being dropped out an airplane.
 
After roaring downhill at breakneck speed, the runaway momentum carries you through a wild series of loops and twists and turns with infinite ease.  Everything around you is rushing past in a blur.  You experience an explosion of adrenalin inside, and your heart is pounding so hard it feels like it might jump out of your chest.
 
All too quickly the ride is over and it’s time to get off.  Your heart returns to normal and the adrenalin subsides.  But the thrill — that sensational thrill – will stay with you in your memory for a very long time.  

the social media marketing analogy

Social media marketing can be a little like an old fashioned roller coaster ride.  That is, you can go from laboring ever so hard at the front end to suddenly having it pick up the momentum it needs to thereafter carry itself with infinite ease.
 
And the benefits can linger for a very long time.  

the multiplier effect

But the real power of social media marketing doesn’t actually kick in until you’ve reached the multiplier effects of the fifth and sixth stages or steps, as shown in the stairway graphic above.  Til then, getting through the first four steps — attention, interest, engagement, and endearment — requires a degree of diligence that can sometimes make it feel like hard labor.
                
And it can be hard, too.  Think of it this way: you can’t have interest without first getting attention, you can’t have engagement without first getting interest, you can’t have endearment without first getting engagement, and you can’t have any of it without consistently plugging away at getting it all.  

But reach that coveted tipping point — spurring people into sharing and winning over advocates – and the rest of the ride will be a reward in itself.
 
Without you having to do much of anything at all, the user generated buzz will not only grow into an ever-expanding circle of influence, but it will do so by exponential leaps and bounds.  That’s the power of the multiplier effect.
 
The multiplier effect is both the prelude to and the gateway for going viral.  

of course, there are no guarantees

Admittedly, you also have to have some luck to go viral like that.
 
But remember this: If you’re not diligent, you can’t be lucky.  Viral marketing typically takes time, energy, and persistence.  

And may the best of luck be with you!  

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