Confronting The Doubt That Social Media Marketing Actually Works

My brother in law is an incredible potter and when he opened up his own pottery studio about 2 years ago, he wrestled like every small business owner does the first few months in getting the word out.

Then he took a time lapse video of himself making a piece of large pottery on the wheel in his studio and put it on his Facebook page.

Ok, so it didn't officially go viral or anything, but it was just what his business needed to impress those interested and start people talking.

And that's what social media is good at: getting people talking about your business. Many small businesses are built on relationship and social media offers a great platform to expand that. Did you know that 70% of business-to-consumer marketers have acquired customers through Facebook?

Educate or Entertain:

Whenever you put anything on social media make sure that it's either educating or entertaining your audience. If not, it's not worth posting.

One of our best videos on social media was more entertaining than most and generated some noise for a promotion we were having at the time. (If you haven't seen our incredible basketball trick shots you've got to see it.) 

Along the lines of educating, we do regular posts and several videos aimed at educating our audience on the importance of various online marketing options. Offering authentic tips and valuable resources to your audience that aren't plagued with cheesy sales pitches is a great way to bring value to your audience.

But honestly...

Ok, so that's what does work. But what about what does NOT work?

What to avoid like the plague on social media:

• Being Inconsistent : be consistent in the timing of your posts. People notice and so do search engines.
  
• Sales pitches: You don't spend time on social media to get bombarded by sales pitches, and neither does your audience. Max 20% of your posts should be sales related.
  
• Un-related content: Your audience expects to be entertained or educated by your business on social media, but only when it relates to your core products/services.
  
• Personal info: It's about your customer, not you. Provide value to your audience or get off social media.

 
Is it right for my business?

Great question. Maybe it is. Maybe it’s not. If you answer yes to the following 2 questions, then social media is likely a good fit for your business.

1. Is your ideal customer likely to be active on social media?

For example, if you sell toys for toddlers, then chances are good your target audience is young moms who generally are active on social media. But if you’re an industrial excavator and your work generally comes through other contractors, social media might not be needed.

2. Do you have a system to keep your social platforms updated and add regular content?

If your goal for social media is simply to get a Facebook page set up and then post something once a year, don’t bother. Consistency is critical in social media. Hootsuite is a great tool for small businesses who need help managing their social media in-house, but unless you’re ready to do it and do it well, then it might not be a good fit for you.

FAQ's:

How often should I post?

There's a simple answer to that: Post when you can provide value . If you can provide legitimate value to your audience every single day, then post every day. If you can only provide solid content that's valuable every 2 weeks, then post every 2 weeks.

What platform is best for me?

Facebook is a standard, and often a great fit. If your business can provide interesting photos of your products/services, then Instagram might be a good fit. If you're a B2B business and need to connect with other business professionals, then give LinkedIn a try. Twitter can be a great avenue to make special announcements and is often used by medium/larger businesses for customer support.