As a brand manager, entrepreneur, and/or business owner, you might think that social media has 1 goal: to get as many followers as possible.
But, like everyone else, when I mention the next following revelation during a workshop, I immediately get a third of the class who roll their eyes and stop taking me seriously. THEN, the next half of the class is defending the idea of what I am about to say next…
As a business, using social media and content marketing uses the same technique as job hunting. It has nothing to do with how many followers you have. In fact, LIKES DO NOT EQUAL SALES. I get a lot of pushback when people tell me that they get more of their ‘friends and family’ who like their page than by using my techniques.
And well…that might be true.
But do your friends and family buy your products and services? If they DO utilize your products and services…is it enough to sustain your business or do you need MORE than that to keep the doors open? The last I checked, owners and managers come to me and take a workshop because they are stuck and are wondering what the next answer is for how to use social media to make more money and bring in more sales.
At this point, I preach the same old story: narrow down your target market and start there.
Think about it in terms of trying to find a job. You dig into your brain and find your skills and put them down on a piece of paper, and then begin to peddle your experiences to potential employers that might be interested.
Let’s pretend for a moment that you are a software engineer looking for a job as an app developer. You wouldn’t want to throw your resume out there to as many people as possible…the goal is to narrow down companies that might be of interest. A corner cafe or restaurant may not need you. And then, some software companies may not be able to afford you. Perhaps some companies don’t feel you have enough experience.
Alas, you have found a handful of companies that are a good and decent fit…but the work doesn’t stop there. Would you want to send your resume to the janitor, or would it be more effective to send to the department head or vice president?
The problem with social media and content marketing is you are taking your business’ resume and blasting it to as many people as you possibly can, and many times putting a price tag on it by associating it with a bump, boost, or ad fee. And it may result in likes, but suddenly, you’ve spent a lot of money and the phone is not ringing. When I preach to narrow down the target market…this is what I am referring to. Is this the most effective way to utilize your effort? Is it the best return on your investment of time or money or talent? All it has done is make you feel worse about your effort.
In reality, stop talking to everyone and start finding folks who give a damn and want to listen and who are looking. THEY are who you should be speaking to. That does speak lightly of how easy that is…we all know that trying to hunt down the right person to send an email and a resume to is not easy…not for the job hunter or for the business owner seeking a sale.
The same can be said for friends and family. Unless you have enough friends and family with enough continuous purchase power to fuel the mortgage, while the likes might be an ego boost, it doesn’t do much for your end goal. Just like in job hunting, your friends and family all know what you are worth, but they are not the ones who are ultimately going to give you a job!