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But Will Social Media Work for ME?
The Sprocket Report
This is an update to "Social Media for the Rest of Us” dated 1/7/2013.
You’ve been to the presentations, listened to the webinars and read the blog posts about how important social media is for business marketing. But are you still skeptical about its importance to your particular business?
The only way to know for sure how well social media marketing works for your business is to try it – just like any other marketing campaign – but we can share real case studies with you as examples of what to expect. The 2013 article we’re updating today is actually still quite relevant, but we have new stories to pass along and new lessons to learn.
Know where your clients are
Marketing with social media is intended to send people to your website where they can buy your product, make an appointment or fulfill some other Call To Action. (CTA) In the graph below, it’s obvious that the majority of this business’s prospective clients come from Facebook and the traffic is growing. In particular, these prospective are going to the website on their mobile devices (m.facebook.com) rather than from their desktop computers (facebook.com).
Small payments can mean big boosts
All the social media platforms have options for you to spend marketing money. Facebook in particular has scaled back the audience you can reach unless you buy ads. But you don’t have to spend a whole lot to perk up your reach numbers.
The graph below shows that when this business ran just a few inexpensive ads (the green line), their organic and viral reach also increased dramatically (blue and yellow lines). The total dollar amount spent for the four ads was $106.27.
Consistency and quality are key
The two graphs below are from a business that was doing okay with their Facebook posts, but toward the end of the year, their focus waned. They posted less often and spent less time crafting posts that would be of interest to their audience. As the number of stories decreased, so did their reach.
At the beginning of the year, our team took over the social media duties. We posted more stories in January and February than they had posted in December, but at a similar rate to what they had been posting earlier in the year. Our posts, however, were better crafted to appeal to their audience, doubling their reach.
The moral of these case studies is that yes, social media marketing can work for your business, but the landscape has changed since 2013 when just being present on social platforms was enough to get noticed. Now you need to consult your statistics, follow a plan of action and be prepared to pay to play. Even a modest commitment to social media marketing can make a sizeable difference, so explore your options.
The Sprocket Websites team is here for you whether you want us to take on the task completely or if you just want an hour of training. Contact us today – we’re happy to help!
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Kate Gingold
I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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