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Are you wondering whether this entire social media hullabaloo is actually worth your time?You've heard it 8 million times before – Social Media – the last bastion of hope for the small business to win the jackpot lotto of nearly free marketingthat nets you more than you ever imagined…Has all the talk about social media got you asking,

“Am I really missing the jackpot boat ride, or are all the other business owners, managers and marketers just wasting time playing in the time sink?

I'm pretty sure the answer is yes, but…The BIGGEST problem I have is getting you to read past the headline and the first few sentences to discover that I'm not the last guy whose article you read that was absolutely FULL OF MALARKY!!!I'm still not sure that you're convinced, but my sincere hope is that you will take that chance and take just a little more time to read just a bit more before deciding I'm just another moron with a stupid opinion.This article will tell you:

  1. Why most people are just WASTING their time with social media
  2. How to make social media actually worth your time investment
  3. True confessions from an actual marketing firm – what works and what doesn't
  4. Why social media most likely IS worth the time, effort and maybe even (dare I say it?) money

1) Why most people are just wasting their time with Social MediaOk. So I don't know WHY most people are wasting their time with social media. All I know is THEY ARE.How?Many of the clients, business owners, and marketing managers we speak with are finding that a lot of time is spent producing the content for their social media efforts. Posts don't just make themselves, and the time spent developing this content is time that could be spent elsewhere.One quick and easy indicator that your efforts just aren't worth it is to give it the old friends and family test. What's the friends and family test? Look at your fans and followers. How many of the people you are talking to are actual clients or customers or prospects? How many are employees, friends or family members? Keep in mind, if you aren't talking to the right people – you're just wasting time.Rule 1: Social Media still only works when it is properly promoted. If you aren't reaching a mass of people who are potential or current customers of your business, then there's no chance for this to be an effective use of time for your business.Rule 2: It is important to realize that the rules for social media do not change from any traditional means of communication for businesses. Making the broad assumption that you can agree with that, I move to say that many social media users are missing the boat by not taking the time to consider an effective plan for their social media campaigns.Here is a great list of questions to ask:What is the goal?Who do I want to reach?How will I reach them?Once I've got them, what do I want to tell them?How will I tell them?How often will I tell them?Each of these questions should be answered, and each should be answered for every piece your company puts out to the public. In other words, links to your favorite online cheese store, while potentially interesting to a single member of your social media audience, probably does not mean a lot in terms of accomplishing a goal for your business.2) How to make social media actually worth your time investmentFirst, let's start by saying please keep in mind Rules 1 & 2 laid down in the previous section. Basically, don't forget to make sure you have an audience to speak to, and don't forget to have a plan once you've got them.Next, consider the two basic paths to making money through social media marketing.Path 1: The first path is what most people initially think of when they think social media marketing. This is essentially: 1) raise a burbling audience of current or potential customers 2) give them lots of exciting, fun content, and relevant content 3) ??????? 4) Profit.Yes. This can be a bit confusing, but essentially you want people to become engaged with your company and occasionally hit them with an offer or simply tell them about your product(s) or service(s) often enough that they eventually respond when they need or want you. Very much like e-newsletter marketing.Path 2: Forget all the time-consuming, creativity intensive rigmarole. Trade your valuable time for dollars. What am I talking about? Pay-per-click! And no, Google does not own the market on this type of online advertising. Both paths are completely viable ways to make money. Both are also great ways to drain your time, energy, patience and your wallet. Why am I telling you this? Because it's the truth. Social media can make you a lot of money, or it can really cost you big time. The easiest way to fall into the latter category is to play around part time as an amateur marketer/advertiser.If you don't have the resources to get into it, then don't. If you're big enough to eat all the costs yourself, then great! If you're somewhere in the middle or you your big enough, but aren't really interested in making a such a big investment that's not likely to pay off tomorrow or the next day, then do the smart thing. Hire a professional.Here's what it looks like:Your company may not have either the resources or the experience to know how to get started right with using social media as a part of your overall advertising. If you are not willing to take the gamble, but you don't want to miss the boat either you pay a professional to manage the pay-per-click campaign, the traditional content campaign, or even both. The advantages are as follows:

  • Quicker return. More experience means less time to figure out how to make it work for you.
  • Strategic planning. So you've got a keyboard, but are you thinking strategically to ensure ROI?
  • Time and Money savings. What does it cost your business when you spend your time or pay someone else to do it? Are you paying a full-time marketing person for a job that doesn't take their full time?

3) True confessions. What works and what doesn't.Being in the industry for so long, we've tried a lot of different ways of making social media work for our clients. You can read just a few gems here and avoid them yourself, or you could just hire us to worry about it all for you. Meantime, here are Some things on the avoid list that we've picked up along the way:

  1. Don't half-commit yourself. Too little time with social media and you might as well forget it
  2. It's not everything. Manage your expectations – It is profitable. It won't bring ALL your business
  3. Have an audience. Many people end up talking to themselves. Promote yourself & gain an audience. Staff members, friends and family don't do much good as “friends” of your business
  4. Cast your net wide. Especially w. paid ads – people know they are being “sold”, and responses are expectedly low, so make your coverage area as wide as your business allows
  5. If it's not working, STOP! Many companies in the industry don't care about your results. They do care about their checks. And they will keep cashing them as long as you allow them to.
  6. Be patient. Rome was not built in a nanosecond. A good rule of thumb is about 3 months to truly evaluate your results.

4) How is social media worth my time and money?By this point, you'd probably like to know the answer to the question everyone is asking. Well… Ask yourself. What do I mean? Ask yourself these questions: 

  • What if your prospects and customers knew and respected your company before you called them? Would it make selling easier for you and your sales force?
  • What would it mean for you to have a compelling way to engage your customers and prospective customers, without invading their personal space with prying phone calls?
  • What if all the people you talked to had an easy way to tell their friends about their experience with you and how impressed they are with your expertise?
  • And lastly, what if you had an easy way to stay top of mind with your clients and customers? What would come from your company being in the forefront of their thinking? What if you were there at just the right time…every time?

 So what's the answer? Is it worth your time? Are you willing to make the investment? Do you need professional help? Are you ready to get started? It's ok – you CAN pick up the phone, or if it's easier just shoot me an email @ jrhertwig@trademarkads.com and say, “Hey, I'd like to talk more sometime.” 

TradeMark Advertising

865-966-1690

TradeMark Advertising is based in Knoxville, Tennessee and is a full-service marketing, advertising and web design/online marketing firm. We've served both national and local clients within Tennessee and surrounding states since 1996. While we have strong roots in traditional media such as radio, television, billboards, video and direct mail, we've also kept with the times and now specialize in web and online marketing.