Why Social Media Fails for Most Businesses

Recently, a new form of internet marketing has emerged. Led by mostly young, recent graduates from colleges and universities, new ventures actively try to sell social media marketing services to businesses like yours. They are evangelists for what they know best: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, blogs and other similar media. Most have no experience in business marketing and don’t understand how to attract potential customers. They’ll give you a pitch about building “Buzz” for your business through imaginary “friends,” meaningless “tweets,” or other tricks. They’ll tell you that websites are “Old School” and no longer relevant. They’re dead wrong, and falling for their hype will eat up your marketing budget without producing any real leads or sales.

Over 75% of Facebook and Twitter users are under the age 35. This group of people doesn’t have large disposable income, but they have plenty of time to spend online. If your company offers big-ticket niche products or services, chances are that these users don’t have the purchasing power. Those who do make big purchase decisions are rarely social media users. Search engines are the most reliable source for consumers who look for information before making purchase decisions, NOT Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook and Twitter Are for Social Interactions, Not Business Marketing

Social media buzz does work for some businesses. It can be effective for businesses like restaurants, nightclubs, entertainment companies, music venues, rock bands and a few others that can generate enough interest in the general public to have a large number of fans or followers. Their products and services must have a large customer base and are needed frequently by consumers. If that’s the business you’re in, it’s worth giving this type of marketing some thought. For most small and midsize businesses that offer products and services that customers may only need very infrequently, Facebook and Twitter fail to deliver. Most businesses that have tried it bail out of social media completely once they learn how worthless it is.

• Facebook Is for Friends and Family, Not Business

  Facebook started as a way for college students to communicate with each other. It has grown into a much larger website that now includes every age group. Facebook users are primarily interested in sharing personal information with a selected group of friends and acquaintances. Facebook sells advertising on its website, and businesses can create their own pages there. The truth: People looking for goods and services do not look for them on Facebook. Because consumers are bombarded with advertisements everywhere, they don’t like to see more ads or get unsolicited sales pitches when they hang out with their friends. Only people who are already your customers will “Like” your Facebook page. The number of “Likes” can be inflated by companies engaged in selling “Likes” or generating them fraudulently.

• Twitter Is Designed for Chatter and Brief Statements

  Can you sell a $4,000 product with a message shorter than 140 characters? Twitter users write very short messages about their daily lives and sometimes about news events. Twitter users who “follow” other users read those short “tweets.” Large businesses and companies can create Twitter accounts, and socially oriented businesses, including TV and radio stations, newspapers, celebrities, can sometimes collect large numbers of followers and post brief marketing messages. Bottom line: Twitter users aren’t interested in following the “tweets” of most types of business, and dislike advertising in their social spaces. If your company’s products or services are big-ticket purchases, can you convince a new customer to spend over $1,000 with information limited to 140 characters?

• LinkedIn Is a Networking Site for Professionals

  LinkedIn is a gathering place for professionals who are either looking for work now or who put their resumes online in case they need to look for a job later. Networking is a proven way to recruit employees or to be visible to employers. Corporations and Human Resources companies often maintain a presence on LinkedIn, too. The facts you need: Unless you’re in the Human Resources business or another employment related business, LinkedIn won’t repay your marketing investment.

• YouTube Is Great for Sharing Videos

  YouTube is a real phenomenon. It hosts millions of videos about every subject imaginable. A few of those videos “go viral,” but very few people see the rest. Can a viral video boost your sales? The answer is most likely a surprising “No.” because few of the viewers watch the video with any buying intention. Large corporations can sometimes make good use of YouTube, but for small local businesses, it’s a poor way to market goods and services. Here’s a useful tip: Video presentations are very effective on websites. Post them on YouTube for free, and display them on your website without using expensive bandwidth. We can help you with this.

• Use Blogs to Enhance Web Optimization

  Some social media “wizards” offer blogging services. Blogs can be useful to some businesses as an SEO technique, but are very time-consuming if maintained by business owners and costly if contracted to others. In addition, very few people visit most general business blogs. If you’re considering a blog, have our search engine optimization company advise you, not a social media marketer that doesn’t understand SEO. We will be glad to help you create and manage a blog if it will truly help build your business.

• Instagram Is for Cute Snapshots, Not Business

  Much like Twitter, Instagram offers a platform where users upload snapshots, selfies, brief videos and other photos they take with their smartphones. Instagram users are generally young and the focus of the service is personal communications. It’s difficult to imagine a way that businesses could use Instagram profitably. Our suggestion: Leave this venue to its youthful participants and put your marketing budget to better use.

• Pinterest Offers Limited Attraction for Business Use

  Like Twitter and Instagram, Pinterest is an image sharing mobile venue. Users, who are 70% female, post images of things they like, which may include businesses and products. Business pages are available, but are used primarily by the fashion, entertainment and music industries to post product photos. For general businesses, there’s little reason to use Pinterest. The reality: Aside from encouraging customers to “Pin” photos related to your business, skip this venue.

For Maximum Marketing Exposure, Your Website Is the Best Investment

Unless your business is one of the very few that can benefit from social media marketing, investing in such efforts will create zero return. As far too many people have discovered, most social media spending is like flushing money down the toilet. If you’re getting pitches from social media “experts,” call iRevamp for a free evaluation of your current website and internet marketing. Don’t be taken in by pie-in-the-sky promises. If your business is typical, investing in effective search engine optimization will produce real profits by bringing you new leads and customers. Let us show you the strong growths we’ve obtained for our clients and propose a plan to make your company more competitive.