How Social Media is Like The Royal Wedding

{ Warning …there’s a video at the bottom that starts automatically..that’s the sound you’re hearing… }

I think it must be the rebel in me, but I had no plans to watch the Royal Wedding this morning. Don’t get me wrong, I knew it would be spectacular, but I just didn’t really feel any sort of desire to plan my day around the royal nuptials. I knew that watching The Royal Wedding was something millions of people were planning to do, but I really didn’t think it was for me.

I got up this morning, got my coffee and turned on the TV at the very moment Kate was starting her (long) walk down the aisle. Drawn in by the music and the beautiful bride with the wide smile who looked as though she had just stepped out of a fairy tale, I was hooked. I was watching The Royal Wedding.

Like millions around the world, I’d been exposed plenty of pre-wedding hype. And as I watched the ceremony unfold, I could see exactly why people were enchanted by it. It’s unbelievably magical. And who doesn’t need a little magic in their lives these days? I got it.

So what does that have to do with anything? Especially social media?

Social media is like a Royal Wedding

Even with all the buzz, I didn’t understand what all the hype was about–until I tuned in. Thousands of people lined the streets outside the church. Talk about a sense of community. Just watching from my side of the world made me feel that I was part of something larger than life.

The same is true for businesses who are tuned into social media. Connecting with your customers and creating a sense of community is possible — and you don’t have to throw a posh wedding to have adoring fans camped out on your doorstep.

Building Social Media Strategy (SM)  vs. Planning a Royal Wedding (RW)

There is no way that I could ever comprehend what goes into the planning and implementation of a Royal Wedding. It’s an off-the-scale kind of magnitude. I think small businesses who are trying to figure out how to use social media to build a buzz around their business can feel as overwhelmed at where to begin as they would if they were trying to plan a Royal Wedding.

SM: Where do I begin? = RW: How do we cut the guest list down to 1900 of our closest friends?

SM: What’s my strategy? = RW: How can we fit all those hats in the church?

SM: Who should I work with? = RW: How many florists will we need?

SM: What tools should I use? = RW: How many horse-drawn carriages will we need?

SM: How will we measure success? = RW: Will a Westminster Abbey official do cartwheels after the service?