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Social media marketing doesn?t work

Businesses everywhere are searching with ever-increasing frenzy for the silver bullet that?s going to help their businesses sell more. Two to three years ago it was search engine optimisation. Today it?s social media marketing. Save your money ? it?s almost certainly not going to work.

I realise what I?m saying is not likely to be well-received, especially with the hundreds of people who have set themselves up as social media experts over the last year. I can understand why people think social media will cure everything, but I challenge anybody reading this to produce a real success story that has led to an actual increase in sales.

Compelling figures

On the face of it, the statistics around social media are compelling. Over 1 billion Facebook users; over 200 million Twitter users; over 200 million LinkedIn users: Surely that is a massive audience just waiting to be addressed?

Surely that is an opportunity just too good to miss? Surely it makes sense to blow some of your meagre and stretched marketing budget on a social media expert who is promising to get your message out there?

You have to engage in conversations

No actually, it isn?t. It?s been proved over and over again that social media marketing only works when you engage in conversations. Just blasting your latest advertising slogan out there with a link to your website isn?t going to get you anywhere. Your message is going to get lost in the fire hose deluge of shouted marketing messages, each with a lifecycle of seconds. At best it?s a fast path to ?Unlike?, ?Stop following? or ?Unsubscribe?. ?At worst, you might actually be damaging your brand.

To have any chance of being effective, social media conversations have to be genuine. So you can?t outsource them to some well-meaning social media expert, because it is unlikely they are going to be empowered to take part in conversations, and even if they are, it?s unlikely they?re going to know what to say. Even when it?s done right, I still don?t know of any real business examples that have led to actual increased sales.

You won?t sell more

The real problem runs deeper. The search engine optimisation campaign everybody ran two years ago failed. It might have brought more traffic to your website, but was that traffic actually helpful? Did you actually sell more? The answer, in every case I?ve looked at, is no it didn?t. And the social media campaign you?re about to run today almost certainly isn?t going to work either.

You need a clear business strategy

The real problem is a lack of clarity about why customers buy from you, coupled with a lack of a differentiated story in a marketplace where everybody is clamouring for attention. Couple the two and you have a recipe for declining sales and a race to the bottom for pricing leading to a big dent in profitability.

So is there a solution to this? Yes there is. Save the money you?re planning to spend on your social media campaign. Getting 250 Facebook likes may make you feel good, but you can?t pay them in at the bank.

Three simple questions

Instead spend a little bit of time answering three simple questions about your business.

What are you selling? What problem do you help your customers solve? What value or savings do you create for your customers?
Who are you selling to? Who specifically is your ideal customer? Where do they go searching for solutions to their problems? How can you attract them to you?
How are you selling? How do your customers want to buy? What can you do to make buying and using your products and services a wonderful experience for your customers?

Sounds simple doesn?t it? No need to understand some social media expert?s mumbo-jumbo. Just think about what your customers want and how they want it, and then do that, better than your competitors.

There?s an old saying that the more successful your customers become, the more successful you become. Thankfully, it remains as true today as ever.

Here?s what to do next

If you?re interested in how this could help you, or feel I may be able to help you with some of the challenges you?re facing, please get in touch for an informal discussion.

There?s no commitment, we?ll just discuss your situation to see if working together might be a good fit. ?Contact me?now.

Best regards