One of the things I’ve noticed over the past few years is the lack of general understanding of what Social Media means to a business. Not an understanding at grass routes level or in the marketing department (although that sometimes appears to be the case…) but a lack of understanding at the senior and leadership level. It’s strange given the huge amount of online information and 1000’s (if not 10,000’s) of posts on sites like this as well as the countless other sites that pop up the second you Google anything to do with SEO etc.
The main problem for Managers and Leaders is, that although there is this huge resource of information, so much of it is targeted towards selling a product, so you get all of the headline information about how Social Media can transform your sales and just as you get to the nitty-gritty of the matter you’re hit with a...
“that’s why our X platform is the one for you, call us now”
– rather than finishing off the explanation.
Regardless of industry, from consultancies to wholesalers there are a number of common misunderstandings that is making the market for the more unscrupulous “social media experts” more akin to shooting fish in a barrel than actually consulting and deeply understanding a companies need. This is a shame, as a great Social Media Expert or SEO/SM consultant contract with a trusted, well skilled company is great value for money and these charlatans are damaging their industry…
The easy win’s are, as their name suggests easy to achieve and some business consultants I’ve come across they are used to sell in quick, achieve quick wins and then run for the hills to let the rest of the dust (or damage) settle.
Why do intelligent, often “online savvy” businesses fall for this?
There is something about the trust level of an external consultant that means they often get away with boasting huge savings, massive increases in ROI etc. but once the dust has settled and the consultants have moved on what was the true value of all that expense? How much really changed and did it even damage your (online) connections with your customers and in the worst cases, you’ve even lost key staff in this process and what is the true cost of that?
Ok, so I diverted off onto bad consultancy… lets get back onto the Social Media subject –
There are numerous benefits to social media – but for most companies they will not be a holy grail in terms of increasing sales and profits. The best way, and this is my opinion, so feel happy to disagree – is to think of Social Media as a comfort blanket and trust creator between you and the massive audience of potential customers out there in Internet Land… in most cases having a Facebook account will not suddenly improve your sales, having 1000 pictures on Pinterest or regular Twitter feeds won’t turn your company into a success overnight. What it can do, if done properly, is actively engage an audience and in turn make them more likely to use your service.
Does size matter?
It’s vital to not fall into the “mine is bigger than yours” trap when it comes to followers, a company with 100 truly engaged followers will benefit far more than a company with 10,000 random or purchased followers and once you have started to get an established group of followers then you benefit from more effective “calls to action”.
As above, if a recruitment company with 100 home grown and active followers places a call to action for an “admin assistant” at the same time as a company with 10,000 poorly serviced followers, the smaller following will yield more results… This is because the follower is engaged and has that trust level with a brand, they see a call to action from someone they “know” then even if they are not interested in being an “admin assistant” they are far more likely to think about their mate who was looking for a new job and mention it to them.
That’s the benefit of social media – it does not mean instant improvements in business but makes improvements more likely – it’s a new string to your bow and has become as essential in business as having a decent website… trust – that factor is huge, regardless of if you are a boutique bakery in Swansea or a high street fashion chain…
OK – my second grudge…
Adverts on SM media sites ARE NOT SOCIAL MEDIA!!!
Oh, my blood boils on this one… a PPC campaign is marketing/sales and people who say they got 10 sales from Facebook often mean they got 10 sales as a result from an advert… it’s a small bug bear but PPC Adverts are not social media… they are marketing, they are sales, they are ADVERTS.
Don’t mix the two up, they are totally different things and too often confused as being the same.
Your SM presence – is their to show off the best of what you can be – what services you can provide and benefits you can bring to your potential followers and future clients – it’s a sounding board for the interesting stuff, the human face of your company and should be treated as such.
You PPC Advert presence – should compliment your style, after all both your current followers and possible future followers will likely be seeing this, so keep your branding consistent but don’t get the two mixed up.
Once you’ve got your SM empire and 100,000,000 followers and you’ve spent the time and effort to keep them engaged and interested in your brand then as a manager you can march into your Marketing Managers office and bemoan the fact your not seeing an ROI… but until that day, treat both as separate entities, decide, as you did when you built your website, how much is acceptable to spend on a monthly/annual basis on SM and, separately, how much is acceptable to spend on PPC etc.
This is simply my own opinion, based on what I’ve seen work and not work for me or other companies over the years, it’s very easy to get caught up in trends and with all the vibe about SM being the new way forward, yes, it’s now an important everyday business tool but it does not replace the other, traditional routes to market, it simply compliments them.
Get back to basics
Above all – base your SM and PPC advertisement strategy on the simplest terms…
If you were the customer – what would you like to see? How many updates a day can you handle before it turns into that Whattsapp group you only skim read now because it’s too busy… is it worth splitting into channels – i.e. an “about us” and a “careers at” – all these things are worth considering and YES, of course, a decent specialist company can do an amazing job, just make sure they’re not selling in the easy wins, you want consistency and for them to be selling a long term approach, overnight fixes just don’t work.