How many times have you seen an article with a similar headline? Or more recently, headlines screaming about social media advertising being a waste of money. I see them again and again and again. What amuses me is that more often than not, I see these on LinkedIn, or Twitter, or (yep – you guessed it) Facebook.

These articles tend to be written by businesses that are falling into one of two categories.

1. Those that sell services that have a completely different approach to marketing than that of social media companies such as ourselves.
2. Those selling social media services who are trying to pique your interest with a statement that will stir emotion. The best example of this would be a recent advert from Amanda Bond, who claims that Facebook ads are not converting – so we should pay to access her webinars, where she teaches us how to improve our advertising approach.

You get out what you put in

The reality is, social media does work – but you will only ever get out what you put in. Effort is required. Consistency is required. Strategy… is required.

Social media will not work for you if you fit the following scenarios, or adopt an approach that matches these:

• I’ve set up profiles but never post anything
• I created profiles for my business, but I just use it to make customer service complaints and keep up with Brexit and the rugby
• I created profiles and tweet now and then, maybe a couple of times a month
• I have a splurge on twitter every now and then, but it’s been months since my last tweet
• I spent £20 boosting a post once months ago

If you want social media to work, and you want to overcome falling into the raps of the scenarios above, it might be that considering some social media training is an option. Having someone work with you to create a strategy and really identify what you want from your social media platforms has been a game changer for many of the businesses we’ve worked with over the years.
This is the approach we take:

1. Figure out where you should be active online
2. Find out what you actually want to achieve from your active platforms
3. Brainstorm the type of activity that will allow your audience to achieve your objectives
4. Decide upon a presence that includes daily interactions and engagement with your audience.
5. Implement everything that came out of the above

It could be that we close down some of your public social media platforms, and before now we’ve even decreased the level of posting for a client. Social is not about throwing s*** at a wall, and seeing what sticks. A successful social media strategy is thought out, has a plan and can, therefore, be measured.

I like to use the analogy of building a house

Social media is cement.

Your marketing assets, the things that happen in your business, your objectives… they’re your bricks, doors, windows, etc.

If you do social and you don’t work to a plan, all you have is a pile of cement.

If you work on producing a load of marketing assets but do nothing with them – you have a pile of materials that you can’t do much with.

But, if you use the cement to hold the bricks together and put the windows and doors at strategic points – you have a house. That’s when you see the return on your investment.

If you have your materials and your cement is ready to go – but you don’t break ground. You’ve spent a lot of money, and right now – there’s no reward!

It’s a bit of a crazy analogy – but trust me it works when I tell it.

If you’re going to implement a social media strategy for your business – make sure you have your ducks in a row. Don’t just dive in without the proper care and attention. If you’re not sure where to start, ask us about our coaching service – you might only need an hour with someone outside of your business to help you see the direction you need to take, or how best to implement what it is you want to achieve.