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.
The bottom line: if he went out and got a real job he would make way more money, on a regular basis. And so it is with small business digital marketing. Better ways to spend your time and money are available.
You Get What You Pay for in Internet Marketing
The 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 social media at all, because it does have some usefulness with regard to creating more links back to your site. 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 digital marketing, and clients relying 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 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!
Should I have a Presence on Social Media?
This doesn’t mean you should ignore Social Media altogether if your business is not a prime candidate for high traffic.
Contact me at 720-520-0639 to help you to determine whether your small business will benefit from more exposure to social media marketing. People are more likely to be following businesses that are favorite hot spots like restaurants, or regular services such as their bank, stock broker, etc.
Be aware that social media pages can sometimes show in less competitive search term results, which is a good thing. So make sure your entries are professional and not embarrassing to your business. Also make sure to link your entries back to your main site pages.
Internet Advertising Time is Valuable
The bigger issue for a Denver small business owner is where to spend your time and money. As with most social media, you cannot just create an account and sit back and watch it grow. You need to work at producing content and building your following in order for it to pay off.
If your business is one that will benefit from social media sharing as a means to get human attention on the internet, by all means put your time and effort, or marketing dollars toward social media.
But if your business is not a hot consumer-sharing type, and your site is not search engine optimized, then focus on-site before going overboard with your social media expenditure.