Another great cartoon from Marketoonist Tom Fishburne…
“Social media is not a cure-all. Yet it is often treated as a marketing magic elixir. It can be difficult to sort the promise from the hype.”
The whole post is here…
Now I confess I was originally a little sceptical about social media. Partly because of a painful experience with MySpace and chasing the promise of a tidal wave of free traffic that never materialised!
When Twitter first appeared, it made no sense to me whatsoever.
Facebook might have had application for consumer markets…
…but I didn’t see the application for other businesses.
However, with the passing of time it’s pretty clear that social media is here to stay and there are most definitely ways to use it in your marketing.
Problem is, as Tom points out…
…too many people see social media as a “magic pill” that will instantly solve all marketing problems.
Hate to be the one to tell you…
…but it won’t.
It seems to me that….
1) Social media is a source of traffic. It’s a way of getting in front of people and used properly these people can be highly targeted
2) Social media is a way of engaging and communicating more effectively with prospects and customers.
In other words, social media is a NEW way to do old things.
So, if you already have an effective marketing system in place, social media may be a great way to extend your reach and leverage your marketing efforts.
Simple example.
I admit that I really didn’t get the point of having profiles across multiple sites saying basically the same thing as what’s on my main site here.
BUT what I was missing, of course, is that people are not all the same and they will have different patterns of behaviour.
One person might love Facebook, another will live on LinkedIn.
If you can republish material over multiple platforms effectively, then you can extend your reach.
BUT…if you don’t already have a working strategy to attract, convert and retain customers…
…then social media on its own won’t help.
You might attract legions of fans, have viral videos and an avalanche of “likes”…
…but if they’re not on your list and buying from you, then it won’t make any difference to your bottom line and your bank account.
I’m adding Social Media Marketing to the services I offer clients…
…but it will only be one part of a well-planned direct response marketing strategy.
So use Social Media wisely…
…otherwise you risk the disappointment of another “shiny object” that won’t live up to your hopes.