The world of “in your face” and “interruption” marketing is shrinking fast with traditional advertising methods becoming less and less effective. At the same time, the majority of your potential customers are engaging in Social Media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Inherently, as business owners, we realize that success and sales depend upon getting the right message out to the right people at the right time. Facebook’s second quarter report indicates over 955 Million active users so there is little question about where to find people these days, but here are 3 of the top reasons why companies fail to convert their Social Media campaign into customers.
Failure to Plan
Most companies will dive straight into the engagement phase of Social Media and begin posting and Tweeting without any plan, preparation, or organization. Doing this might gather you a handful of “likes”, “retweets”, and comments but it’s unlikely to generate you much new business. A successful Social Media campaign must involve the following:
- Identify, define, and document what winning looks like for your business. (i.e. What are you trying to accomplish?)
- How can you help your target audience by answering questions that they are already asking?
- Where does your target audience like to hang out? (online)
Once you figure these items out, you’ll be in a better position to reach your ultimate goals.
Giving Up Too Early
One of the challenges of Social Media is that it is NOT a quick, overnight fix for your business. Often, due to the rapid growth of Social Media, business owners will assume (incorrectly) that getting involved on Facebook or Twitter will result in immediate results. Then, after a few months of work, they think it isn’t working and quit.
Remember, when you start a Social Media campaign your community is ZERO. You have no followers and no visitors. You must spend a minimum of 4-6 months connecting, reaching out, finding groups, and building that community before you can ever hope to monetize it. In order for Social Media to work for you, you must have the mindset of building relationships with future customers rather than expecting to find the NOW customer. Granted, you may stumble upon a few quick sales, but if immediate conversions are your primary focus, then Social Media is not for you.
Failure to Create Compelling Content
Fascinating content is what captures attention, keeps people coming back, and gets them to share. Once you have identified your target audience and the questions they are already asking, you must create value by providing stimulating and helpful content. Some experts refer to this as “Social Media Currency” and it is simply valuable information that you are giving away in exchange for having someone follow you. This information must be housed on your blog (see my article on blogging to learn why) and in addition to being frequent and consistent, it must be concise and easy to read. Pictures, bullet points, and lists should all be part of your blog posts. Consider adding a regular dose of video to make your message even more compelling.
As you may have already determined, creating a winning Social Media campaign takes a significant amount of time and implementing it requires attention on nearly a daily basis. That’s the bad news. But the good news is that businesses and individuals who embrace and integrate Social Media into their marketing strategy properly will create an asset that can bring them endless customers, raving fans, and quality referrals.
Did you find this article helpful? More Social Media tips are coming soon. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter to make sure you don’t miss them!
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