Good question!
Social Media for a business often tends to be a time consuming activity with little recognition of the contribution it makes to the business.
Some regard Social Media marketing as a free of charge sales lead generator, which works instantly, and others think it is frivolous and a waste of time.
Not so.
Myth Busting
1. Social Media Marketing is not free of charge!
EVEN if you do it yourself, there is still a cost attached. Not only for your time, but also because Facebook has changed its algorithms to keep their huge user base happy. Many users complained, and I bet you also thought there were too many commercial posts and advertisements on your timeline.
NOW you need to pay to get your Business Page audience to grow and for your posts or advertisements to be seen by your target audience. And of course, the more you pay, the more visibility your post or advertisement gets.
Within a 30 mile radius of Uckfield, East Sussex 990.000 potential customers between the ages of 18-65 are using Facebook.
The right kind of post at the right time aimed the right target audience will work for your business.
Do you know of any other way of getting your company, product or service in front existing and future customers and have proof that they have seen your advertisement or post?
If you had a shop in the High Street – how much would you be willing to pay for each single potential customer to come into your shop?
2. Social Media Marketing is not a cheap and simple sales lead generator!
BUT Social Media can drive traffic to your website – and if your website is engaging - it is a very cost-effective way to growing your business.
It might, however, depend what you understand to be a sales lead.
To drive sales leads via Social Media Marketing many other factors need to be in place. This is when it becomes challenging and further financial and time investment is required…
Your website is your ‘Digital Shop Window’ – Social Media Marketing is a fabulous tool to get people to investigate your ‘window’.
To measure how many are looking your website ought to have Google Analytics in place.
Not only does it tell you how many visitors you have when, but also where they came from and how long they stayed – and much, much more. It really is a ‘must have’ to ensure ROI on your investment in digital media and will help you see what may be wrong and needs changing.
3. Social Media Marketing brings instant success!
NO, it doesn’t. To get your future customers to engage with you and your business needs time, consistency and patience. However, once done the right way it will lead to success.
Below shows a comparison year on year, over the same period of what happens without and with good Social Media management.
In the relevant period in 2017 only 6.6% of website traffic came from Social Media sources, whilst in the same period in 2018 traffic generated via Social Media posts was 59.3%.
AND – the overall number of website visitors increased, too!
4. Social Media Marketing is frivolous!
YES, the way we communicate with our potential customers may appear to be so, as we cannot simply spread sales messages.
We should not forget that this way of communicating is a very personal activity and not a business activity for those, who we target. So, we need to make it interesting for them to want to read our tweets and Facebook messages.
