Why Social Media Isn’t Working For You (And How To Make It Work)

A lot of business owners are frustrated with the term “social media” because people throw it around like it’s super-easy to get started, and when they do try it, they don’t get any result.

The real reason why people “fail” with social media is that they do not really understand what it is, and how to tailor their approach based on that.

This article is an attempt (hopefully a successful one!) to clear the confusion and put you on the right track.

The Importance of Social Media

We wouldn’t say that social media is crucial to a business’ success, but we strongly believe that it is important, and not only because everyone is doing it.

A strong social presence is slowly (but consistently) becoming like mobile phones. In the past, many people tried to resist it, saying that they have always been able to get away without having one, and that it’s not going to change anytime soon. Sure, people can probably survive without having a cellphone, but it’s kind of hard in today’s world, isn’t it?

A social presence is the same. It won’t make or break your business (for now), but it can definitely make things easier, and the earlier you adopt social media as part of your marketing strategies, the earlier you can take advantage of its benefits (people who started using cellphones early are now using smartphones with email, camera and productivity apps, while those who are just starting to use it are still stuck with the basic “calling and texting” capabilities).

Don’t Use Social Media to Make People “Buy Now”

Have a bunch of “Buy Now” posts on your Facebook page, and you will be rewarded with absolutely no sales.

Social media should NOT be used as a direct selling tool. Instead, it should be used as a way to build trust.

How? By showing that you are a real person or business, and that you care about your customers. For example if someone is having an issue about your product, you can share the solution right on the social media page solving it. But what if no one is having any issue? Then you will want to share tips and tricks (within the niche, but independent of your product); for example if you sell a lawn mower, you can share gardening tips that have nothing to do with lawn mowing. This always encourages comments, likes and shares. And that gets other people to join in the conversation (you got to love social).

Social traffic is rapid traffic. It doesn’t like to take too long to read or realize things. Just quickly skim. Quickly press like. Quickly comment. And then move on. Buying stuff is really out of place.

Don’t Use Social Media to Gain More Visitors

Actually, you should. But don’t just make a post and expect it to get a 1000s shares and clicks on its own.

People need a reason to do things. What’s in there for them to click or to share?

People will click if what you post can solve a problem they have, and they will share if what you post is of value. It’s not your tweet or post that will drive traffic; it’s what you write in them.

A well thought out tweet will definitely bring in more traffic than 10 quickly whipped up ones.

Don’t Think That Social Media is a Revolution

Social media is not the NEW way of marketing. It’s just another way of marketing. It’s more of an evolution than a revolution. It hasn’t changed the way things are done; it’s simply another way.

Giving up all your other marketing efforts for just social media is not the way to go. You don’t see big companies stopping to have their names on billboards just because they have a Facebook page, do you?

Instead, social media should be used in conjunction with other types of marketing. A good example of this would be if you have a nice video you uploaded on YouTube to siphon the traffic on there, you can also share it on your social media page.

The Point of it All

Social media is just a platform. It’s not a magic land where just posting random things will get you a horde of traffic or sales.

Once you “get it”, you will start using it for what it was meant for; interaction, feedback and trust. These 3 will take care of the sales later on.