7 truths of social media marketing

Social media is no silver bullet.

Occasionally you hear stories of entrepreneurs who have struck it ‘lucky’ and made their millions in minutes thanks to some pretty zany social media or PR (one great example of this was the launch of teeth whitening brand Hi Smile).

But, more often than not, this is not the case. For most, starting a business is a hard slog of trial and error as you balance your limited budget with working out the levers that convert people to buy. And perhaps never has this been more apparent than in this time of entrepreneurialism, and social media marketing.

What follows are some truths that might change the way you think about the purpose and place of social media. It might sound like a rant (and perhaps it is), but I do feel that the discipline which I love so much is very misunderstood. And I feel that I need to play a role in reframing these views.

I’ll admit it was difficult to write this blog, as I do wish that I could solve all of the problems of the business world for our clients. However, I can’t. There is no magic formula for success. What works for one account doesn’t work for another.

Despite what some might tell you, social media marketing is about so much more than posting pretty images. It requires a hell of a lot of testing, analysis, learning, and application. Without further adieu, I present to you the 7 truths of social media marketing. 

1. Social Media Promotion is One Part of the Marketing Mix

While there are a whole bunch of definitions for social media such as “websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking,” the bottom line is that when used for business purposes, it is a promotional tool. Or in other words, it serves the purpose of publicising a product, organisation, or venture so as to increase public awareness or sales.

When you look at social media as a promotional tool, you start to appreciate that there are a whole range of variables that affect the results that it can achieve. If your product isn’t of perceived value, social media is not going to be able to help you convert sales. If your product is too expensive, people are going to walk away (or wait until you go on sale). If you can’t offer decent service, people may not come back to you for repeat purchase. And so on…

All in all, there are a range of contributors to the success of your business. As a business owner, the 7Ps is one framework that can help you to understand the results that you’re seeing, and what needs to be changed in order to achieve your goals.

2. Social Media is One Type of Promotion

Over the last 6 years of consulting in social media, it’s been interesting to see a massive swing in the allocation of marketing budgets. Whereas previously it was heavily weighted towards traditional media, these days businesses are investing more heavily in digital marketing and particularly social media marketing. In fact, some businesses rely almost single-handedly on social media.

Why has this become the case? Basically, because it is extremely ‘cheap’ to advertise on social media. While this has been great for some startups, the low barrier to entry has opened up opportunities for millions of businesses across the world.

What we would say here is this: all of the other promotional channels still hold value. Don’t discount the power of TV, billboards, Google AdWords, Email Marketing, and other traditional media. All of these channels can hold certain perceived credibility and can help to elevate your brand message and support social media in achieving your goals.

3. We Can Lead The Horse to Water… 

We can drive 1 million highly likely buyers to your website (if we have the social media ad budget), however, if the website doesn’t manage to convert those people to sales, then this is an issue that really needs to be sorted out by you and your website developer.

Let’s talk briefly about Website Conversion Optimisation which is basically the process of working out how you can make your website convert more leads to buyers. It’s important for this reason: what you do with what you get is significantly more important than how much you get. Increasing your conversion rate can have a way bigger impact on your revenue than increasing your traffic by 10,000.

Some common issues that we see on websites include slow page load time, clunky website design, poor product availability, unclear content (including images) and overly complicated forms. Just to name a few.

At this point you might be asking: “But can’t social media take responsibility for the conversion?” Yes, there are some social media ad types that will convert people within social media apps themselves. As an example, with Facebook you can get contacts through lead form ads. And yes you can even get direct enquiries through social media.

However, your goal really should be to convert most of your customers through your website, or in-store. And the reason for this is simple: this is where you can offer the best experience (at least currently).

4. Social Media is EXTREMELY competitive

Gone are the days where you could start an Instagram account and soon after have thousands of followers. Social Media is more competitive than ever.

As of the date of writing this blog there are approximately 25 million business accounts on Instagram and over 80 million on Facebook. While not all industries and sectors are represented equally in these numbers, the point is none the less true. It is more difficult than ever to get people’s attention, and even more difficult than ever to convince them to take action.

With this being the case, you are going to need to come to the ‘party’ with something that really cuts through the noise – an exceptional story, accompanied by an incredible value proposition. Great looking content alone will not get you results.

We see it time and time again. Beautiful social media accounts that get basically zero conversion (sales) results. While aesthetic is important, especially for some industries, it should not be considered the sole focus of your social media marketing efforts.

5. Certain Markets are EXTREMELY Competitive

We are fortunate to work across a range of industries and sectors, including fashion, beauty, real estate and property, construction, and hospitality (to name a few) which gives us insights across a broad range of markets. What we see is that there are very few markets that are not competitive. Australia has grown, and the digital landscape has changed the dynamics of business. If you don’t have direct competitors within your city, they’re operating in another city (potentially another country!) and quite possibly taking your business through online innovations.

You might be thinking: “Actually no, you’re wrong. Our product has a strong point of difference and we don’t have any direct competition.” If this is the case, amazing! You’ve got an edge. However, it also means you’re probably up against other challenges like needing to educate your market on your innovative solution.

While competition should never be seen as a reason not to enter the market or a deal-breaker for your success, our point here is this: all businesses (startup or otherwise) need to be incredibly in-tune with what they are up against. We rely on our client’s industry insights to help us convey the ‘right’ message at the ‘right’ time, to the ‘right’ audience. If you need help with defining this, we can put you in touch with the ‘right’ people to assist!

6. Goals Take Time to Achieve

Whatever your goals, if they’re good ones, they’ll take time to achieve.

We have worked with businesses at all stages of their lifecycle, from startups to wind downs—and across a broad range of industries and sectors. Through this experience we have developed tried and true best practice systems and processes that realise growth. However, here’s the thing: whatever your business stage, when you start working towards something bigger, you’re always starting with something small. It always takes time to see transformational change.

If you’re a startup, you can overlay that it takes time to build trust in your brand. If you’re new to the market, you’re going to need to convince people that you’re a credible brand to buy from. Yes, you might leverage the pre-established trust of influencers or brand ambassadors, if you have the budget. If not, it’s time (and money) in the game.

7. Sales Problems Are Always More Complex Than They Seem

We so often like to “think” that there is an easy answer. Who doesn’t love a motivational quote that tells us that success is attainable if we simply persist?! I too can be sucked into the game of easy solutions. However, the problem nearly always goes far deeper than the obvious.

Suggesting to a builder that he should only need a hammer to build your home would probably result in some interesting responses (including walking away from the conversation!).

We sincerely wish we had the magic wand for sales. Sadly, we don’t. What we do have is an awesome tool (social media) which absolutely can help with achieving some amazing results, when it is used in conjunction with people, resources and tools.

SUMMARY

This is all a lot to take in, and if you’d rather put your social media marketing in the hands of someone else, get in touch! We’d love to help you create some content that will #GetTonguesWagging!