Are you one of those business owners that feel like you have to be on social media?
I mean everyone is on social media, right? So you have to be too.
I won’t lie; back around 2010 I sold a lot of social media services that way. Social media hadn’t quite reached saturation yet but people understood that it was it was becoming mainstream and their business could suffer if they missed the boat.
Now we find ourselves with social networks overrun with advertising because things got so crowded that Facebook’s algorithm became as complex as Google’s.
Lost in the middle of that are thousands of brand pages that are inactive or filled with marketing messages. Neither one is terribly interesting to consumers, nor exactly social. So again we have a whole wave of business owners that are simply trying to figure it out.
Social media isn’t for everyone
After years of working with clients in social media here’s what I’ve learned: it’s not for everyone.
I’m not actually saying that you can’t find a way to make social media work for your business. Just check out GE’s Instagram account for an incredibly innovative way for them to be relevant and connect with new audiences.
The reality is not everyone is that creative. A good social media presence takes a lot of time, and you get out of it what you put in. Some business owners have that time and commitment, but many do not.
And you know what? That’s ok.
#Love
My clients that are most successful on social media do it because they love it. They love talking to people. They love memes. They love falling down their own Facebook rabbit hole and sharing the best and most relevant things they find.
They aren’t struggling with what to say or when to schedule it; they’re simply sharing with their audience.
For them, social media is fun. They all have favorite networks and they love hanging out there. And it’s clear from the response their fans love what they have to offer, because it’s fun for everyone.
If fun is the last thing that comes to mind when you think of social media, it may be time to think about whether it’s really right for you.
Do you really need to be on social media?
It could benefit you to be active is social media, but brand pages that have been sitting inactive for six months aren’t doing you a bit of good. So if you’re deciding whether to stay on social media, take a strategic approach.
I have a lot of clients that are still trying to decide if they should start out social media and many times we find it’s not worth the investment for them. We talk about things like:
- What are your goals with social media?
- Where does your business come from today?
- How much time do you have to commit to social media?
- What do you have to share?
- What type of audience do you want to connect with?
- How will you measure results?
If you find out that being on social media is not the best use of your time, don’t feel bad about it. It is a marketing channel. As business owners we take advantage of many of them, but we also realize not everything is right for us.
Make the right decision for your business. If you need permission to walk away from social media, you call me. We’ll talk through the pros and cons and I’ll be happy to tell you if I think your time would be better served elsewhere, and how to make a graceful exit.