Is social media for every business? The answer is a definite no. Here are 8 reasons why social media might not be a good fit for your business; and maybe 8 reason why it is. I trust this will get my clients in Halifax thinking about their social media. And by the way, if your reason for using social media is the same as the slide below, you need to contact me for help.
You had better have a better reason that this to use social media 🙂
Let me preface this article by saying that I understand that social media is creating some headaches for some business owners as they consider where they should take the plunge or not. But with traditional marketing going down the toilet in many places, social media should be considered instead of avoided. Let me lead off with a story and then I will explain the 8 reasons why social media is not good for your business; and vice versa.
I remember a conversation I had with a hair stylist a long while ago. She told me that she did not need to use social media to find new customers. For her, she felt that traditional media was more appropriate for reaching new prospective clients. After all, she works with mostly seniors. She felt that most of her clients would only read newspapers and flyers. She wanted to spend her advertising money on flyers and traditional marketing methods…. that cost a lot of money. I thought to myself…”It is her business and she is free to do what she wants”. I understood what she was saying.
This hair dresser also told me that word of mouth advertising works best for her. I thought to myself that social media involved a lot for word of mouth so to speak, only it’s the word of mouth you create on a keyboard. Internet marketing majors on word of mouth through posts and comments by others. She could be missing out on a large section of prospective clients. There was a disconnect in her mind of what social media could really do for her business.
Unfortunately, this type of thinking will leave her with a customer base that is dying off. She needs new customers to come into her business. She needs to market to her customers in ways that will actually reach them effectively. After all, don’t these customers have children and grand children that are using social media.
It is worth noting, in the above example, that more seniors are getting onto the Internet and on Facebook. Not every senior is on Facebook, but many are already there. These seniors are having a blast along the way chatting with friends and family. They love photos of their grand children and those online video chats. A business needs to continue to move with their customers, and not lag behind.
Let’s make it clear that we are talking about small business in this example. Most small businesses have very little money for advertising. When I am approached to advertise, it is usually going to cost $200, $300 and up for radio, newspaper and other types of ads. Usually, it is a lot higher. And in my opinion, from my experience, it has never brought me a good return on my investment. I feel like I am supporting someone else’s job, to be honest.
For these traditional marketing methods to work, you have to repeatedly use them over and over again to get noticed. This adds up to some serious advertising expense. I suspect this hair dresser is spending about $40 plus for each ad in local flyers and such. This can add up. I hope she is seeing a return on her investment for her advertising. But could she benefit from social media?
Let’s call social media what it really is, Internet marketing. More people are searching the Internet first to find what they are looking for. I have heard numbers like 85% and up in discussions about how many are searching the Internet first before they buy. They want to find out what options they have. The hair stylist’s customers are getting older and she will have to replace them with new ones as time passes.
Something to for the hair stylist to consider is this, gift certificates. Children are buying gift certificates for their parents to get their hair done. They are certainly becoming heavy users of the Internet and of social media. She could be missing out on a large section of prospective clients.
I hear people telling others not to jump right in or rush into social media. It’s not for everyone. Well let’s see who social media is not for [ humor used here folks – take it for what it is meant to be – thought-provoking with a smile 🙂 ] :
- Those who don’t have a web page [ You don’t need to worry about increasing its Google rank if you don’t have a website. – But if you have a website, it can do very well with Google Search, if you work at it and if you can benefit from having one ]
- Those who don’t want to be included in search engine results when customers search [ Customers don’t use the Internet to find them – There are still some businesses that this might actually be true for ]
- Those who have so much business that they don’t need to market at all [ They are way to busy to concern themselves with a possible dry season in the road ahead. They will always be busy they believe – In actuality, dry seasons can come. One should always consider this possibility ]
- Those who could care less about whether they attract more news customers [ Customers just fall into the business. Every where they go, people ask them to put them in their schedule or to send them their product – Yes it can happen, if you have the market cornered for what you do. The rest of us have to work at making this happen ]
- Those who do not want others online to discover the great advantages that their business has to offer [ Their business says it all – customers understand what that business does and they naturally tell others – For the rest of us, we are trying to help more people discover what we do. There’s still more world yet to conquer ]
- Those who do not want to make more contacts, who could become refers of that business [ They don’t need any new life blood into their business. Any more business would hinder them – Most of us are not busting at the seams. We could us some extra referrals for our businesses ]
- Those who do not want to collaborate with others to improve their business and help others [ Why work with others and help them. I work alone mentality – We can use the help from others because there is way to much happening in this busy world to keep up by ourselves ]
- Those who do not have the time to market to their customers because they are too busy [ I am busy making money here folks. There’s no time to market or look for new business – We understand that we are planting seed for the future harvest. Marketing makes life busy, but we want to stay busy for the future ]
I know that every small business may not have or want a web site. I also know that all the various social media applications may not be for every business; but I believe every business should look at having a Facebook Page to establish a presence there. Not every business may want to use Twitter, LinkedIn or Foursquare; but they should look at being on Facebook; so that when people search for a service, that business can show up in Facebook search results. Did you know that Facebook Pages can show up as a search result on Google?
It certainly cannot be the cost of using Facebook that is the turn off for this hair dresser. She could do it all for free. She could spend a few moments to watch some videos on YouTube to see how to make a Facebook Page. She could invest a few moments of her time each day to update the Facebook Page with useful and interesting comments. This could help her attract more prospective clients down the road, as they find her in search engine results. It really is getting expensive for small businesses to use traditional marketing. Small businesses need to take advantage of Internet marketing/social media.
In summary, you don’t need to use social media if you are not serious about your business or if you fit into the list above. I don’t tell people to jump right in and be crazy with it. I encourage them to see what they are already doing, and see if it can be transferred onto social media. For small business, the cost is right. Now keep in mind that your time is still worth money; but it is more cost-effective than traditional marketing and it can produce better measurable results.
For the hair dresser, I think she needs to seriously look at what she could accomplish in her business by just simply looking at Facebook. The benefits may not be immediate. It will take time to build momentum. Over time, as she puts more and more on the Internet, she will see a return on her investment.
If you have a business and someone tells you not to bother with social media, don’t listen. I am not saying “Jump right in”. What I am saying is this…”at least have a look yourself and talk with other business owners that are similar to yours”. See what you can learn. Give it an honest look. It might not be for you. But, it might be the answer to your prayers as well. And by the way, if someone tells you that they are a social media expert, run. Experts are the ones that others recommend because they do great work.
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