We hear it all the time… “Social Media Doesn’t Work!”… au contraire mon amie (on the contrary my friend)! I’m willing to bet, you’re just doing it wrong!
Remember when you were little and ran in, tears streaming, to your mother and sobbed, “Mommy! Why don’t they like me?” Your mom might have looked at you with loving eyes and told you were too smart, too beautiful, or too mature for those kids.
Your mom was probably lying. 😆 What she could have said was, “Well, Johnny, you’re boring, selfish, and don’t ever want to do what the other kids want to do.”
Sure, that’s probably too harsh to tell a child, but the same sentiment may be true if you’re not getting the social media results you were hoping for.
You’ve done the work – you’ve created the pages, blogged your heart out, tweeted your life away, and posted like crazy, but you’re not getting the exposure you want.
Sadly, this probably isn’t because you’re too smart, too beautiful, or too mature. It’s more likely that you’re committing one of the more common social media mistakes.
Social Media Doesn’t Work Because You’re Selfish!
We know it sounds counterproductive, but social media marketing is less about your business and more about your customers and audience.
Unfortunately, you probably won’t be able to build conversations and engage the masses if you’re talking about or, worse, promoting yourself constantly.
What terrific content do you have to tickle your customers’ fancy?
What can you offer them as a value proposition that would entice them to visit your page or, even better, your business?
And, who can you talk about that’s not you?
Highlight a cool business or another cool product – if it engages you, chances are it will engage the masses.
Social Media Doesn’t Work Because Need to “Get Out More”
You may think you’re doing everything right – posting up a storm, blogging like there’s no tomorrow.
Hate to break it to you, but you may be creating content in the vacuum that is your world.
To be seen in the social space, you need to get out there!
Start following blogs within your industry or community. Comment – and have a valuable opinion or worthwhile viewpoint. Tweet, but also retweet.
Engage in public conversations with not only customers but other businesses, thought leaders, etc.
Don’t expect the masses to come to you – get out and grab them.
Social Media Doesn’t Work Because Your On the Wrong Networks
When it comes to creating a social media plan, you may be tempted to get your name out everywhere.
However, before you expend unnecessary time and effort creating profiles and accounts in a zillion and one social media accounts, take a step back to determine where your presence is sure to shine.
For instance, if your business isn’t exactly in the corporate realm, you may be wasting time on LinkedIn.
However, if BtoB marketing is your strong suite, you may want to focus more attention to your LinkedIn efforts.
Get the picture? Maybe this link from buffer will help.
You know your target audience – now decide where they’re most likely to hang out.
Social Media Doesn’t Work Because You’re Uninviting
The point of social media is to share relevant content that engages audiences and inspires them to share it as well.
Inviting audience participation is how content goes viral and guess what? All roads lead back to home—er—your business.
Make sure you’ve enabled the proper functionalities in each of your spaces to allow quick and easy sharing of your content or posts.
Invite conversation, don’t shun it.
Social Media Doesn’t Work Because You’re Trying Too Hard
We’ve already stressed the importance of developing a solid social media strategy for your business.
That said, becoming a slave to your strategy can sometimes do you more harm than good.
Social media is all about relationships – and relationships are unpredictable.
If you’re unwilling to stretch your strategy, try a new tactic, or go out on a limb, you may wind up missing some great opportunities.
We’re not saying you should go into this blind, but use a little flexibility when appropriate – some experiments might end up paying off big time.
Social Media Advertising Doesn’t Work!
Social media advertising is a whole different post in and of itself, but if you think social media ads don’t work, we need to chat.
Executing a well-strategized social media advertising campaign can be a game-changer for a lot of businesses.
Trust me on this one, advertising on social media works.
Can you relate to any of the above? How did you manage to “snap out of it?” Give us your secrets – we’re all ears!