The Worth Of Social Media Marketing

Do you get the memo when social media changes?

How about your competitors?

Social Media moves fast. When I speak to audiences and business, I always ask this question. Will things slow down or speed up in the future? 100% answer speed up, everytime!

Sometimes, it feels like too much to keep up with.

But, if you’re going to succeed, you need to know the latest trends and stay focused.

You want to know that what you’re doing isn’t already outdated. And you don’t want to miss opportunities, either.

You’re busy though. Who has time to keep tabs on all that stuff?

If that’s how you’re feeling, it’s a good thing you’re here.

Social media marketing needs to be part of your marketing strategy.

Why?

The number of social media users is on the rise and isn’t going to die down anytime soon. Those users include your potential customers. And if you want to reach them, then you have to play the game.

Where to Be in Social Media

It has been hammered into the ground that the first rule of business is, “Location, location, location.”

The same rule applies to social media. Be where your audience is. Different social media networks make more sense for different businesses. Knowing your audience and how they use social media is key for using social media to its full potential in an efficient way

88% of businesses are using Social Media.
96% of people who talk about your brand don’t follow it.
91% of users are accessing social media through mobile devices.
Customers spend 20-40% more with companies that engage with them on social media.
67% of all americans are using social media.
81% of the US population has at least one social media profile.
67% of all Americans report they get their news from social media.

Over 90% of young Americans are active on different social networks. Using social media can help get your business in front of them at the right time.

The use of mobile devices on the rise. Social media strategists need to make sure that everything they create still conveys the intended message in a portable format.

THE SMALL BUSINESS OWNER’S DILEMMA

Owning a business is hard work. On any given day, you’re being pulled in a million different directions, you’re exhausted after staying up way later than humans should, and you’re strapped for cash.

For many, running your own business can feel like raising children. It can mean great sacrifice and unbelievable stress on your mind and body. Why do you do it? You get to do something you love, call the shots in your own life, and watch something you created grow into a successful entity.

Every business owner wants to see his or her business thrive. You may be thinking that you’ve exhausted every avenue to generate new leads and, ultimately, sales. You may have started a Facebook fan page and grown tired of the time and effort it takes to manage it, or grown frustrated that your tweets are only reaching a handful of people on Twitter.

With results like these, you may wonder if spending time, energy and money on social media is worth it for small businesses, after all.

SOCIAL MEDIA VIDEO STATISTICS

43% of People Want To See More Video Content From Marketers. Your audience is begging for this content. Don’t leave them hanging.
100 Million Hours of Video Content is Watched On Facebook Daily. That’s equal to about 4.2 days worth of watchable content being consumed in just one day!
86% of Business Related Video Views Take Place On Desktop Computers. With that many people consuming your organization’s content via desktop both your social media strategists and your video team need to make sure that videos are optimized for desktop viewing.
56% of All Videos Published Last Year Are Less Than Two Minutes Long. We have a shorter attention span than a standard goldfish. That means that a 20-minute video isn’t going to go over well on social media. Remember to keep it concise.
The Average Video Retains 37% of Viewers To The End. If only 37% of your audience makes it to the end of your video, put the most need-to-know information first!

MAKING SOCIAL MEDIA WORK FOR YOUR SMALL BUSINESS

The first step in making social media work is to define your goals, and determine your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Do you want to get hundreds of page likes, or do you want to drive traffic to your website and generate leads? Deciding on your goals should center around the actions that actually help your business grow.

You want to generate revenue, so how do you measure that definitively on your website?

In our article, “6 Commandments of Social Media: How to Do it Well and Measure KPIs That Actually Matter,” we give a high-level view of which social media KPIs matter to most businesses when determining your social media efforts’ return on investment (ROI), so you can continually optimize your social campaigns to get the most out of them. (If you’re still not sure where to start, contact us!) Metrics like engagement may mean much more for your business than page likes alone. Users can easily like a page and unfollow it, but if they’re commenting on and sharing your posts, it’s hard to deny your brand’s reach.

SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING STATISTICS

Advertising is without a doubt the most efficient way to reach your audience on any social media platform. Navigating it, on the other hand, can be a bit tricky. Facebook has recently announced that Business Pages engagement is going to ZERO! What that means is you will no longer have the organic reach in marketing to your fans. You will have to PAY to PLAY.

Here are five statistics to help you create your social media advertising strategy.

93% of Social Media Advertisers Use Facebook Advertising. For your content to break through the noise on Facebook, you’re going to have to boost your posts or turn them into advertisements.
49% of 18 to 29-Year-Olds Have Purchased Something They Saw In a Social Media Ad. The younger generation’s journey to purchasing a product is changing. They are starting to be influenced not only by what they see on TV but by what appears in their social media feeds.
26% of Facebook Users Who Click On An Ad Make A Purchase. Facebook is one of the most popular social media advertising spots between the major platforms. Its ability to convert and reach audiences makes a significant impact.
The Average Click Through Rate On A Facebook Ad is .90%
75% to 90% of a Facebook Ad’s Performance is Based on Images. In other words, if you’re creating an advertisement for Facebook include dynamic images. This will help make an impact on your viewers.

FINAL THOUGHTS

“Is social media worth the time and effort if it is integrated with other marketing channels?” The answer is yes!

Integration of social media with other marketing brings everything together.

Social Media and your website

May have heard me say that social media is rented land. You control your website and that should be the hub of all traffic with social media channels feeding into them.

As some of you know Facebook blinded sided business pages last month when then announced Organic reach was going to ZERO! WOW!!! You’ve spent years acquiring customers who have LIKED your page and now you have to Pay to Play with Facebook Ads to reach that audience. OUCH!

Make sure you direct people from social media to your website and make your website client friendly. Make sure you post different ways for people to get a hold of you. A contact us page, online promotions, online forms. Make sure people know who the CEO is and provide bios of your executive team.

Ramp up your video efforts and get creative. Get good at Facebook Ads, and target the right audience. That will take some tweaking, but will be worth it if done right. Remained focused and tie those results to your companies goals and objectives.

Remain flexible and keep adjusting. Be consistent in posting content and have a little fun along the way!

About Blair

Blair Evan Ball is a Social Media Coach and founder of Prepare1, a company that works with businesses, individuals and non-profits. He is a former executive with a Fortune 50 company, and his national division did $1Billion+ in sales annually.

Blair has written three e-books: Facebook for Business Made Easy, Facebook Pages for Business Made Easy, and WordPress Blog Setup Made Easy.

Blair also educates, trains entrepreneurs and business professionals how to amplify their brand, increase revenues, and raise more funds.

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