When Social Media Marketing is a Waste of Time… And when it’s NOT!

Business Building TipsClient AcquisitionOnline Marketing
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It should go without saying that the marketing experts who tell you that you MUST spend time and money on social media marketing are often those who sell their marketing support as a service. Then again, who else would be able to share such expertise?

(Interesting how that opening phrase is so often followed by the very thing that should go without saying, isn’t it?)

What’s the point of this? Well, as with pretty much everything, there are certain truths about human behavior that must be recognized – and there are others that are thought to be true but are not (for whatever reason).

Here are a few truths about social media marketing that you need to accept:

  • Social media marketing is NOT for everyone or every business

  • Facebook is a great B2C platform and just OK for business to business

  • LinkedIn is a great B2B platform and not so good for business to consumer

  • YouTube should be thought of as a social media platform

  • Instagram is a great video marketing tool (by design)

  • Pinterest is just “Meh” for marketing

  • Twitter is a pit and using it will shrink your IQ!!!

It must also be said that any platform with a billion or more subscribers means you have a ton of competition and, as a result, you should not expect overnight success with your marketing strategy.

So, now that we’ve shot down the generally accepted idea that you will never be successful without a heavy focus on social media, let’s take a look at when you should use it.

When Social Media IS Good for Marketing

As the saying goes in sports these days, the biggest ability is availability – and social media makes you available to your audience while making them accessible to you.

In other words, using social media has value because you can promote your products and/or services, inform and educate potential clients, stay in touch with current customers, and reach out to your target audience from anywhere.

According to multiple sources, the average time spent on social media is 142 minutes per day in 2018 (up from 135 in 2017), and young people from 16-24 spend 3 hours a day on various social networks.

There simply is NO other marketing strategy that allows that kind of accessibility combined with such availability, enabling you to:

  • Build brand awareness

  • Increase engagement

  • Target your audience

  • Generate leads

  • Enhance your reputation as an expert

Even your business website does not offer this kind of access to such a vast audience though, of course, one of the goals of your social media campaign should be to get folks to visit your site “To Learn More!” or “Get Your FREE Gift!”.

Choosing Your Social Media Platform

Another fantastic feature of using social media for marketing is that you have a somewhat captive audience. On average, 2.4 billion Facebook users spend nearly 40 minutes on the site every day. With 133 million users in the US, LinkedIn is 277% more effective at generating leads than Facebook and Twitter.

With 1.5 billion monthly active users, 5 billion YouTube videos are viewed every day. Marketing to an audience that big can have huge advantages (while always remembering that is a ton of competition). Still, videos are powerful tools for building your rep and brand, while also boosting audience engagement.

While Twitter does have some appeal for marketing due to a large audience (330 million monthly active users), audience demographics can make a massive difference in how your message is received. For example, nearly two-thirds of Twitter users are aged 35-65, with a whopping 66% male and just 34% female. Further, by its nature (and character limit), the platform appeals to those with a short attention span. Do these data fit your ideal client profile?

Finally, Instagram and Pinterest appeal to a younger demographic. Instagram users spend nearly an hour on site every day, checking out up to 25 million business profiles. And, 50% of US millennials use Pinterest every month, while 80% prefer using the mobile app over the desktop version.

So yes, marketing on social media is a waste of time for some but, for others, it can be an invaluable tool. But… it obviously goes without saying (see what we did there? That’s known as a call-back. LOL), that the makeup of your target audience will determine how you develop, and where you use, a social media marketing strategy.

Social media marketing should be just one tool you employ in your overall marketing strategy. If you'd like to learn more about it and other marketing tools, Ted is available for business consulting to the trade. So feel free to… Get in touch with TD Fall today.