Why Many Social Media Experts are Selling Snake Oil
Lee Traupel
Content Strategist | Marketing Executive | Writer | Editor | ROI & Analytics | UI/UX Designer
So much content written today by social media "experts" featuring Toms, McDonalds, Pepsi, Cisco, SalesForce, Intel, Zappos is a false line on the horizon for small businesses!
My Snake Oil Top Ten List You Should Be Aware Of
Expecting to stand up a biz page on Facebook and generating significant returns sharing "great" content. That's bunk - Facebook is an ad platform and your competing with billions of consumer status updates and you will reach only 15% of your connections.
- The glory days of jumping on Facebook and getting a huge return are gone
- Business (B2B) brands are much better off being here on LinkedIn or Twitter.
- Success on Facebook necessitates targeted ads, sharing well researched content with a functional understanding of how to measure engagement.
It's intensively competitive on social platforms - you need a savvy community manager for sourcing and sharing quality content, who writes well, invests time on a daily basis, can run a Facebook Ad Campaign, grasps CRM and conveys the right social "voice."
- Expect to pay a community manager $40-60K a year, assuming you can find a good one. They are in demand.
Social media platforms require technical and marketing expertise -your biz must understand the inherent technical intricacies and recognize functionality evolves constantly.
- Twitter success: stellar content marketing strategy, grasp the social etiquette & how to use hashtags, research competitors using a platform like Twitonomy.
- These platforms are all free for the most part: accessing customer service is difficult, features/functions don't work "as advertised" and functionality is always evolving.
It's disingenuous to advocate how wonderful these social media platforms are without telling you this traffic does not convert as well as visitors generated via content marketing.
- Social traffic can have a 75-95% bounce rate via Google Analytics for B2B brands.
- A Follow on Twitter or Like on Facebook is meaningless unless you couple it with high quality, ongoing content updates as below.
Today knowledge is everywhere, the social media landscape is fragmented and challenging, with a new crop of startups chasing $10B valuations and this will not change any time soon.
- Barriers to entry on all of these platforms are high; noise levels are unprecedented and platform growth has slowed on Twitter as an example.
- Attention spans are dropping and today's consumer/professionals don't have a lot of patience and they can be fickle.
The underpinning of any social media strategy is investing significant time and marketing resources to generate superb content: text, images, videos, ebooks, WhitePapers, etc.
- You can source great writer/editors here on LinkedIn.
- Viral content rocks and any biz is going to benefit from it: it blends art and science.
Your Best Marketing Strategy
- Forget the razzle/dazzle of social media - stand up a blog that speaks to your customers. Once you have 30-50 posts in place embrace one social channel.
- Narrow your focus: when ready to bite the bullet select one social platform and make a success out of it. Sustaining content on 3-4 channels is resources intensive.
- A good web site trumps any social media marketing platform - well designed, with great content, smartphone accessible, integrated calls to action, analytics, on-board sales funnel, stellar imagery with functional menus.
- Email marketing still delivers wonderful returns to savvy businesses. It may have fallen out of favor but it's still a great way to connect and build rapport with customers.
- Every start-up talks about how they analyze everything and this is meaningful for any biz - create a persona and build outbound marketing around this target.
- Stellar syndicated content trumps every form of marketing, including social: speaks to your customers, drives search rankings, gives your business a voice and more.
- Facebook is a stellar advertising platform with good geographical and demographic targeting - expect to pay $.15-.50 CPC on average and test Facebook's Power Editor. Test the "reach" and "engagement" of your status updates and posts (what images, videos, offers, news, etc. drive engagement). Adjust content accordingly.
- There is an emerging eco system built in the cloud that any small bis should leverage to lower costs, enhance your reach and give you "real time" lead measurement.
- Twitter is still the best platform for a business focusing on other businesses - Twitter has jumped the shark be prepared to spend at least 3-6 months to generate traction.
- LinkedIn profiles & ads should be a part of any B2B focused company's marketing activities. How to setup and deploy a LinkedIn account and some "gotchas." Test ads on LinkedIn, expect to pay $2-4. on average per click & they have a broad suite of advertising capabilities.
I sincerely appreciate your taking the time to read my post and I hope it was insightful. I write about digital marketing topics and if you want to get access to all my posts please click on the Follow button at the top of the page. To connect with me on Twitter or Linked Media Group.
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Content Strategist | Marketing Executive | Writer | Editor | ROI & Analytics | UI/UX Designer
10 年Hi Katyan Roach - thank you so much for that wonderful comment. My intent was to do what you touched on: "comment on what's really behind some of the smoke and mirrors." Glad it was enlightening and thanks again for the comment.
Lee, I loved this article. I've been really frustrated by what I call the hype in social media marketing. I'm so glad to find someone who also sees behind the smoke and mirrors and tells the truth!
Incubating value-adding engagement between solution providers and executive decision-makers at leading companies
10 年GREAT article Lee. I cannot agree with you more!
Global Head of Marketing, Greenstorc Ltd & Commercial Director, Greenstorc Oceania
10 年Well said! Who truly questions all the blurb that passes as gospel? We're in the goggle-eyed phase of social media. The noise will subside eventually.
Founder | Strategist | Podcast Host I guide #CEOs to elevate sales to increase their valuation. Skier?? Sailor ??
10 年Everyone is s social media expert these days. It's really scary. Business owners need to know enough about social media to know who is selling snake oil. That's tough. I recommend talking with at least 3 firms that call themselves "experts." Then be sure and see their work and call some of their customers before you buy. If you do hire a firm to help you, determine the metrics up front and watch carefully to be sure you are getting what was promised. I agree with Kelly - social media is marketing and there will soon be a time when they are not differentiated. You need a sales and marketing plan. Social media is only one piece of that. A student is not capable of providing a marketing strategy. They might be able to help with the execution of the strategy if taught what to do.