travel fares: Social Media Marketing: 4 Warning Signs That You're Wasting Money

Friday, November 30, 2012

Social Media Marketing: 4 Warning Signs That You're Wasting Money

Only a few years ago, it seemed that the internet had reached a level of stability and acceptance by most.? While HTML and other internet technologies continued to improve, usage pattern seemed to be fairly reliable.? This changed with the advent of social media, and social media marketing now represents a huge opportunity for business if done right.

Those who want to reach an online audience must use social media as part of their efforts.? However, social media marketing must be used in an effective manner.? Not knowing how to effectively use social media seems to be the biggest complaint of most business owners.? Their number one complaint:? ?It?s a waste of money.?? Well, here are four clear signs that your social media campaign is wasting money.

Sign #1 ? The number of social media account followers remains constant or low.

The main benefit of social media is its ability to exponentially expose your brand and message to the masses in a short period of time.? Attention breeds more attention, and those who use social media marketing effectively will want to see their number of followers grow at a steady pace.? Slow growth is perfectly acceptable if you?re a small local business, but no growth is a sign that a campaign is failing.? If the campaign is unable to grow each day, it is time to reconsider one?s activities.

Sign #2 ? The level of social engagement and interaction fails to increase

The purpose of social media is to provide users with a two-way means of communication.? Social media is not a one way broadcast platform to merely shout your business message out to the world (although, many use it incorrectly this way).? If the level of fan/follower engagement is stagnant or is dropping, this can be a sign that your marketing efforts are failing to reach out to the right audience.? Fortunately, there are number of techniques that can be used to target the right audience and increase follower engagement, but it is first necessary to analyze the current level of engagement and examine where the campaign is hitting the mark and missing the mark.

Sign #3 ? Not building an email list through your social media marketing efforts.

It is important to remember that you don?t control social media platforms.? Some call them unstable.? Those platforms we use in social media today could be gone tomorrow (or at least change).? Because of this, it is important to constantly work on growing your email list.? You control the email list regardless if the platform changes or goes away.? Fan/Followers are great first step, but it is important to contact them through multiple channels, such as email.? If the number of fans/followers is growing but you?re not building a solid email database behind the scenes, this would be a sign that you?re wasting money on your social media efforts.

Sign #4 ? Not change in company revenue and profits.

Never forget that the purpose of running a social media campaign is to make money in the end.? Now, where the confusion lies with most business owners is that they?re used to running or paying for some direct form of advertising and seeing an immediate increase in interest or purchase activity. This is not the way social media works.? Social media marketing used effectively expands the reach of your brand, introduces you to an audience that may not be ready for your products or services today but may in the future and allows this audience to build up a level of trust with who you are as a company.? In the end though, you must take account to whether your campaign if producing revenue.? Last I checked, profits are still the ultimate goal.? If the campaign is effective at engaging users, reaching new followers and collecting email addresses but still fails to make a profit, something is definitely wrong and it?s time to consider a change to the strategy.

Conclusion

A huge mistake business owners make in starting to market their business on social media is they think they can just hire their teenage child, a young college kid or perhaps a stay at home parent who doesn?t have anything to do while the kids are in school to run their social campaign.? They put no thought into what you want the campaign to do.

You know why?? They don?t want to deal with it.? They don?t want the hassle and they feel pressured to do it but won?t take the time to really understand how social media can explode their business if done properly.

If that?s you don?t worry, no one is going to know that you?re reading this but you .? Seriously though, if you feel that you?ve been wasting money in social media or you have been that business owner who has said to themselves, ?I don?t want to deal with it but I know it?s important? then we may be able to help.? Complete the form below for a no hassle, no obligation consultation that will enlighten you to the mistakes you may be making and how you can start making money with social media.? Platforms may continue to change but selling through social media is not a fad.? It?s a change to the fiber of our business culture.? Embrace it and profit from it.? We can help.? Fill out the form below now and we?ll be in touch.