There seems to be a lot of confusion for small businesses about the use of social media marketing.
The question is how much to use social media marketing. If you have a large natural following and are getting customers and clients on a regular basis from your activities on Facebook and Twitter, by all means keep using it as much as possible.
The reality is most businesses do not get direct business off of their social media activities.
It’s a lot like the ‘real world’ comparison of a beggar on a street corner. If he has nothing else to do, work wise, it makes some sense in his mind to go stand on the corner and see if anybody will throw some cash his way. He increases his success rate if he does some things like looking more down-and-out (ie, creating the right look), or being more aggressive in going up to more cars and trying to interact more (ie, working it harder). But the bottom line is if he went out and got a real job he would make way more money, on a regular basis. I’m sure you can see the parallels.
You Get What You Pay for in Internet Marketing
The sad truth is most of the people using Facebook and Twitter are only using it because it’s free. I always believed that you get what you pay for. Now I’m not saying that you shouldn’t use it at all, because it does have some usefulness with regard to creating more links back to your site, which will help your search engine standings. And if you have the right business, with the right offering, it can be a great tool.
I suppose it’s somewhat of a coincidence, but more likely a tell, that my more successful clients are all in PPC Advertising as well as social media with their online marketing are doing well, and clients relying almost exclusively on Facebook and Twitter are struggling.
Make sure your activities online are profitable and efficient.
For most Denver small businesses advertising online, spending a lot of time on social media is just not that efficient. Don’t get me wrong, some businesses will thrive, such as restaurants and businesses that rely on deals and specials and coupons.
But when I go looking for some service, the 1st thing I think of is to open up Google, type in what I’m looking for, and hit “FIND”!
If you want to be found, there is no substitute for being prominent on Google! If you are so focused on social media marketing that you haven’t even set up a “Paid Search” account, you need to call me at 303-750-6114 right away!
I always find it amusing that people think “a Facebook account is an absolute must in today’s marketing”, but they don’t have a Google AdWords account!