Does your business really need social media?
When social media really started to hit its stride less than 10 years ago, every small business was tripping over themselves to get their product or service on Facebook or Twitter.
Social media was touted as the revolutionary new way for small businesses with no marketing budget to promote themselves and engage directly with their customers. It was going to make marketing so easy and change their businesses significantly!
Cut to 2019 - social media is saturated with every start-up and small business imaginable, cynical customers air their small grievances publicly and major platforms are taking advertising dollars to promote to people who already like your product.
And what of those businesses who rushed to be part of the new craze? Majority of them have Facebook pages that haven’t been touched since 2010 and the current staff have no idea how to access it.
This story is all too familiar and it’s easy to see why and how these businesses failed to get social media working for them.
You commonly hear echoes of these business owners complaining ’we just saw no return on investment’ or ‘we just don’t have the time to keep it going’.
These days social media is not just another quick marketing fix. The oversupply of content and audiences with changing content tastebuds means if you’re going to use social media as a channel for your business, you HAVE to do it well.
So, before you go jumping into the online world, always ask yourself three key questions:
Do you actually need to do this?
Why do you need to be on social media? Is it actually going to help your business? So often small businesses hear from friends or family members that they just MUST be on Facebook. But why? If you are looking for a way to build relationships with your current customers, drive web shop visits or keep your customers up to date with the latest news then absolutely, go for it!
But if you’re unclear how it will add to your business, maybe have a think about other ways you could be promoting your business.
For example, a small plumbing business heard from a supplier that he better get on social media asap. After thinking about it and chatting to his mentor, he realised he couldn’t see how he was going to see the return. Instead, they started a referral program where current customers received discounts off their next bill when they referred a friend. He accessed a wider audience and the customers did all the work.
Do you have the resources to do it?
It’s often believed that social media is easy and takes no time at all. And that can be true but only when you have clear objectives, a talented team and a great content plan. For most start-ups and small businesses, there is hardly enough time to brush your teeth in the morning, let alone plan social media content for the next week, respond to comments or questions via social and/or thinking about what gets boosted or promoted.
Before you dive in, ask yourself - do you have enough time, people or money to keep social media going for at least the next year? You need enough resources to cover planning and writing content, creating posts, images or video, posting the content and most importantly engaging with your community by engaging with other’s content.
How are you going to engage with your audience?
It’s no longer enough to put up adhoc, poor quality iPhone images or shaky video. You need to understand what your audience want to see, what social media they use and plan how you’re going to create a channel that engages them regularly.
Understanding who your audience is and what they want will help you give them what they need.
If you need help understanding your audience, download our free Personas workbook to get a better overview of who they are.
Checking out your competitors social media is also a great way to get an understanding of how to engage with your audience. You’ll see clearly what doesn’t work and what does.
If you can clearly answer those three questions - go forth and conquer the world of social media!
If you’re wondering if social media is really for you - you may want to check out our shop for some free and easy workbooks on marketing fundamentals and strategy.
This social insight was kindly put together by one of our favourite hoomans, who also happens to have a depth of marketing know-how from her time running social media teams, building digital communities, creating and managing killer campaigns for some iconic NZ brands, and being an overall good b***h at GBB too.
Check out her site, insta, twittering, and connect with Kelsie on LinkedIn.
If you need her, she’ll likely be working her butt of or hanging with the puppers