Social Media Do It Yourself Myth – A Good Thing?

Marketing today must include social media … everyone knows that. But did you know that it could be better never to get started rather than do it wrong?

It was a super foreign concept to most business people, when we began talking about Social Media Marketing in 2009. Business owners, in many cases were reluctant to participate in sites like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. We did videos and presentations, webinars, explaining the difference between outbound and inbound marketing. We attempted to clarify that while the general target was sales, it wasn’t as clear-cut as conventional advertising, and needed an extremely different strategy.

Check out this “cool” video from 2009…

I used to encourage business owners to “do it yourself”, but so many things have changed I now recommend that it be handled by a professional.

Through the years, several important changes have happened:
1. The typical consumer checks several online sources for the products they are interested in, and the expectation is that all the social platforms they check offer information that is great and adds to their ability to make an informed decision. Translated that means; how, when, what and where to post is now a complicated decision.

2. Google along with other search engines are now including social media posts within their internet search engine results, frequently delivering Twitter and Facebook posts before sites. This implies that key words are a vital portion of each and every social platform post.

3. When it comes to analytics it is important to know what’s working and what’s not so that you make best use of your time and money. Having someone onboard who understands social media can make the difference between a winning or losing campaign.

4. Individuals connecting with firms on Social Media websites anticipate quick replies when the post their questions and concerns. This means someone must be available to answer questions or refer them to the right individual within the organization. Most company owners don’t have the time or patience to check all their social media profiles throughout the day.

5. More Social platforms are now available. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, the top 3, have now been joined by Pinterest, Google Plus and Instagram. Each of these newer platforms has an interested and large following. Each has strategies and unique rules that should be followed in order to advertise on them successfully.  

6. More individuals are active on media sites that are social.

7. Other websites along with Facebook have had to make judgements on what makes it into a member’s News Feed. Facebook recently announced that promotional posts might find a substantial drop in distribution. To put it differently, advertisements messages will not be seen by most people unless they are paid for by the organization. For business owners, who have been using their News Feeds as free marketing spaces, this is a major blow.

Finally, since images are a significant element of many of the social networking websites now, including Twitter, someone with a background in graphic design as well as the capability to optimize picture size and dimensions required by various social sites is increasingly important. Running a successful social media marketing software requires encounter, instruction and research – and a lot of time. Time that company owners have all too little of these days.

If your ready to throw in the “Do It Yourself” towel, let’s have a conversation. Click Here and organize a free strategy session with me, Carla McNeil. Together we can discover if Butterfly Networking is the right professional for your business.