Mediaboss Marketing

Every organization needs a social presence, right? Yet, because a significant number of SME owners struggle to glean quantifiable results or sales from their social media efforts, it must be asked if it is really worth the effort for them.

While many spend significant time and money to have staff or outside agencies maintain their social media accounts hoping to lure new clients, theyre missing the fact that selling on social media channels doesnt work. Only about 10 per cent of the clients of my digital-marketing firm actually manage to convert leads into sales through social media.

The exception is large brands that have huge media followings (Apple, Coke), companies that started, target and thrive on social media (Luxyhair.com is another of many examples), and specialized service providers such as consultants or event organizers. In the latter case, they might use social media channels to promote a speaking engagement or a new book.

Unless your business falls into one of those categories, stop trying to sell. Yes, SMEs need to maintain a social media presence because that is now the go-to communication platform for clients across age demographics. But social media as a tool for building brand recognition is only one tool. Use it that way but broaden your wider marketing strategy to include such other tactics as advertising, public relations, content marketing, speaking engagements and other initiatives that can help boost your bottom line.

Remember that its also highly transactional, in the sense that no organization owns the followers they maintain on their preferred social media channels they rent them. Whether paying for Facebook ads to promote your business or sharing links to articles, youre paying people in some way to engage with your brand. Those rented followers will come and go, and theyll only go faster if you try to work a hard sales pitch.

Why? We know there are four stages of a customer life cycle:

Social media is best utilized during the contact and care stages, but SME owners and their CFOs still want to use social to convert a follower to a sale. Thats like painting with a hammer. You can do it sort of but it obviously makes far more sense to use a brush. This is particularly true when attempting to engage cynical Generation X clients or advertising-weary Millennials and Generation Zs.

They dont want to be sold to. They want to hear your story. They want to know whether you share the same values and have a solution to a challenge they may be experiencing. They want to know how you can improve their lives in some way.

No matter their age, virtually anyone who engages with your brand on social media wants to get to know you. So, dont expect them to buy expect to build a relationship over time.

For existing customers, surprise and delight them with exclusive access to your products, promotions or information they may find relevant.

If youre an actuary, for example, tell stories of how quitting smoking will lengthen your life expectancy. Explain how your job is crucial in deciding pension benefits. Talk about trends in the industry and how they might impact your target audience. But never try to sell.

In addition, if your organization gives back to the community or supports initiatives that align with your brand objectives, tell your followers about all the wonderful things youre doing for others.

Just dont expect them to buy. That will only happen when you establish a level of trust with them. Sometimes that happens right away. Or it can take months, even years.

The hard sell has (thankfully) fallen on hard times. This is the hard truth of marketing in the social media era.

Dave Burnett is CEO of AOK Marketing, a Toronto-based firm that helps traditional offline businesses get discovered online.

Twitter.com/aokmarketing

Original post:
Stop selling: The hard truth of social media marketing - Financial Post