Are you struggling to make social media work for your small business?
Still not convinced it’s the right place to be?
Although most small businesses believe social media can be an effective marketing tool, very few understand how to master it.
This translates into an ineffective strategy that ends up hurting rather than helping business growth.
So where are you falling down within your use of social media?
Below are six reasons social media isn’t working for small business and solutions to help you build meaningful connections and gain new customers.
Why Social Media Isn’t Working (and how to fix it)
1. You’re a Number Collector
As much as many companies would like to believe that social media is just a numbers game, the truth is the complete opposite.
While chasing fan and follower count might seem logical — the larger the number the bigger your reach — it’s counter-intuitive to the true value within social media.
If you want to establish meaningful connections, you must get into the conversation and stop worrying about the numbers.
Whether you’re looking to connect with peers, influencers or consumers, the fastest way I know how to establish rapport is through relationship building.
And guess what? There’s no magic in it. You don’t need special tools or fancy skills. All you need is the willingness to get to know people.
I challenge you to find five people each day that you can reach out to.
Here are a few ways to do that:
- Ask a question
- Share a story
- Talk about a shared interest
- See how you can lend a helping hand
- Be kind and encouraging
The key is to not only learn more about your audience, but also gain valuable insight into what makes them tick. Your goal is to be a relationship builder, not just a number collector.
As Dale Carnegie said,
“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”
2. No System to Keep in Touch
If I asked you how you were monitoring your social media mentions, would you have an answer? And if so, could you tell me how to quickly respond in real-time?
With 70 percent of U.S. households now using the Internet to shop for local products and services, can your business afford to be absent on social media? The obvious answer is no.
Not having a system in place to stay in touch across your social channels can (and most likely will) adversely affect the very relationships you are working to build.
Sound complicated? It doesn’t have to be.
Use a tool like Sprout Social and their Smart Inbox to monitor what’s being said in and around your business. A quick reply goes a long way when looking to establish camaraderie.
3. No Value Proposition
Your social media connections are looking to learn more about you. They want to know what you have to offer. They want to know your value proposition.
So, what is a value proposition? As explained by Wikipedia,
“A value proposition is a promise of value to be delivered and acknowledged and a belief from the customer that value will be appealed and experienced.”
Now knowing that, could you tell me what you do or how you help people? And if so, would your answer be short, clear and concise?
Not only should you be able to articulate your value easily, but also in a way that makes sense to your audience.
A Quick Way to Identify Your Compelling Value Proposition
Take a look at your business through the eyes of your consumer and answer a few questions.
- What are you offering your audience that changes their lives for the better?
- What does your product or service do to enhance or improve their current situation?
- What key problem(s) are you solving?
- Is your product or service unique and compelling?
I guarantee that if you can clearly communicate your value, you will inspire engagement and ultimately encourage sales.
4. Lack of a Unique Personality
When was the last time you looked at your social media accounts? If your answer was never, then it’s time for a review.
Analyze your bio, tweets and posts. How would you view this content if you were a potential client? Are the mission, vision and values of your business clearly stated? Have you taken the opportunity to create your own unique persona or are you a cookie-cutter clone of your competition?
Whether you’re shy or concerned about taking a stand, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. People bond with people, not businesses. In order to create better connections, you need to humanize your business.
You do this by injecting personality into the online life of your business. Take all of the offline goodness that makes your business special and translate it into a vibrant online persona.
As Guy Kawasaki says,
“The goal is to provide inspiring information that moves people to action.”
To better understand what differentiates you from the competition and encourage your audience to take action, answer a few questions.
KEYS TO DIFFERENTIATION
- What are you passionate about and what could you talk about all day long?
- What’s your specialty?
- What is your top skill or unique ability?
- What do you excel at?
- What makes you stand out from the competition?
- What pain, need or concern can you solve for potential clients?
5. No Commitment to Consistency
Want to create better connections? Stop posting sporadically.
Commit to showing up when and where your customers are spending their time online. That commitment builds trust. It also establishes a professional, reliable and credible online presence.
It’s no secret that small businesses rely on repeat customers and referrals. In fact, according to Constant Contact,
82% of small business owners say their main source of new business is referrals.
Based on that, doesn’t it make sense to commit to a consistent social media strategy that raises business awareness and allows for improved customer perception?
Put a plan in place that makes posting, commenting and connecting quick and easy.
Here’s where to get started:
6. Following a One-Size Fits All Strategy
Before you even begin to market you small business using social media, you need to do two things. First, figure out where your target audience is hanging out and secondly, determine what content they’re looking for on each social network?
Since all social media platforms have distinct cultures of their own, your small business needs to optimize content and conversation for each.
For example, if you’re a local bakery, your Facebook following might appreciate special offers they’ll only find on your page. On the other hand, your Instagram and Pinterest followers might want pictures of your delicious treats along with recipes and a glimpse into your kitchen.
To determine how you’ll share content across each social network, look at the who, what, when, where, why and how.
How can you do that?
Here’s how to break it down in your business:
- Who: Who’s problem are you solving on each social network and who will be connecting with your content?
- What: What’s your best content that will solve that unique challenge?
- When: When are your fans and followers spending their time on each of your social channels?
- Where: Where will all of the content you share come from? Is it pre-existing or will you need to create it?
- Why: Why does solving this problem(s) make a difference in the life of your potential client?
- How: How is your product or service a benefit and how will you translate that across each specific social network?
Final Thoughts
If you want to build a reputable business through the power of social media and lend credence to your claim as an authority figure, you must commit to staying at the forefront of your consumers mind.
Just know that establishing a solid social media presence won’t happen overnight. It also won’t provide instant results. It takes time, practice and consistency.
While there’s no one-size fits all solution to social media, there are proven strategies that can help you embrace its benefits.
Potential clients are actively looking for what your business has to offer. If you’re not leveraging social media to put your product or service in the palm of their hand, your competition is.
How can you activate the power of social media in your small business?
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I agree with all the steps. Business owners should read this to further their knowledge on handling their business.
For the 4th reason, It is really crucial, because the lack of unique personality will not just make your social media account poor but it may also reflect in your business. Nowadays, businesses need to be online in the most unique ways to obtain larger traffic, better leads and more profit.
I guess everyone on social media is guilty of being a number collector. It’s definitely a great feeling when you know that someone’s following you or liking your page, et al. And you have an absolute great point when you said that it’s not about the numbers but the relationship that is to be built.
“Your goal is to be a relationship builder, not just a number collector.”
That’s a spot on! Thanks for sharing Rebekah! You’re posts are always real big help.
Excellent article Rebekah as always. Completely agree with you that 70 percent of U.S. households now using the Internet for shopping and services so if you are a small business and targeting this market than you can not afford to be absent on social media. Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts.
I honestly think that is the hardest thing to execute when I launch campaigns for companies. Definitely trickier for non-mainstream ones or really new brands. 🙂
I used to think personas for audiences were a complete dud…until I actually used them and they really put things into focus.
I love the tips Rebekah, as always. 🙂 Sharing this out.
Hi again Rebekah,
I have to say thank you so much. I have been pondering a serious business thought for the last 4-6 months and this particular post finally helped me to confirm where my thoughts were headed. I am certain that my thoughts of the direction I was heading toward are the best for my company. Thank you so much.
Irish
There is so much value in this post.
I am guilty of the numbers game. I KNOW it’s not about numbers, but it’s always a rush when you have a new follower/subscriber. I suppose it’s part of human nature to want more.
I recently watched an HOA that Wade Harman did. Wade had Katy Katz on his show. Katy talked about creating personas for your business.
Katy went onto explain that when you put a name, interests, dislikes, job, etc, to your audience, it helps to keep your business focused.
I would agree Carrie-Anne. It’s definitely in our nature, especially if you’re competitive.
Personas are a great way to humanize your audience and really get inside their heads. It’s a good exercise for anyone to walk through.
Rebekah,
Great post, and full of excellent , easy to follow suggestions. It’s no rocket science, fortunately.
I’ve also found too many small business people have either no focus, or are hyper focused on themselves/their businesses. Instead of engaging, high value social messages, they mix business with
pleasure, or deliver content that’s all about them, often with the hard sell thrown in.
Spend time getting to know your customers, then help them via social. They will care about you and to a lesser extent, your brand. If you hit them with cat pictures and buy! Buy! Buy! It’s gonna be a long road, indeed.
Great advice Steve. You have to make it all about your audience. When you lose sight of that, you lose the chance to earn a client for life.
Rebekah,
Okay, I’ve got a question for you. So, I know how important it is to ask questions and be human on a network like Facebook. But I was just reading about how Facebook’s new algorithm won’t perform as well for plain text status updates. Do you know anything about that? Maybe I understood it incorrectly, but now I don’t really know WHAT to do!
I figured if anyone would have a great answer for this, it would be you.
You’re the coolest. =)
Brittany
That’s a great question Brittany! There are so many factors that weigh into the FB newsfeed. Unfortunately for many businesses, changes we’ve seen to that algorithm in the last year haven’t all been positive.
You are correct that text only posts don’t typically perform as well as ones that include images. However, this isn’t always the case. I’ve seen pages use text based posts very successfully. It’s really a situation where you need to test, test, test to see what your audience likes.
Here’s a great post from Buffer that includes a long list of what to do and not to do on FB to get seen. https://blog.bufferapp.com/facebook-news-feed-algorithm
I think that’s what I’m mainly missing, building relationships. And also, the rest of what you listed here. These are really spot on!
Excellent points raised. I struggled with the numbers mentality for a while until I asked myself why do I want large followings?
I think everyone does Obafemi. If you’ve been on social media for a while, it’s hard not to compare yourself to your competition.
The key is to just keep on doing your own thing and not worry about the numbers.
Hi Rebekah.
You made some great points with that post.
As you’ve implied, a social media presence is about being social, and not having big numbers.
I know I have a long way to when it comes to my use of social media. I gave up on Facebook and decided to get into Twitter more. That’s working well for me now. I’m also trying to learn Google+ now.
I will use this article as a reference because I want not just a presence, but to do things as effectively as possible.
So thanks, as always for your tips.
Nathan.
These are all common mistakes that businesses of all sizes tend to make. Business has become a numbers game, so the mandate from TPTB is that in order to be successful, social must sell. We all know that’s bunk, but it prompts this vanity metrics and ‘set and forget’ automation and pointless blather and empty talk.
Point 3 is what it drills down to: the WIIFM. “What’s in it for me?” asks the key stakeholder – customer, investor, future employee – as they consider a biz or brand. What’s the value they’re offering, to me? No matter how well and laser-focused and strategically executed a SM (or PR or ad or branding) campaign may be, if the company doesn’t walk the talk it won’t matter. The NUMBER ONE reason social media isn’t working for any business: it’s b/c your BUSINESS isn’t working. FWIW.
Hey Rebekah,
Great article and I love #2. It doesn’t matter social media or whatever marketing you are in; a system (that is working) is needed to get things done right.
I used Sprout Social before and it’s really awesome. The Smart Inbox makes everything in one and imagine handling over 12 social accounts, it is a HUGE life saver.
Thanks for sharing this article and keep it up. Going to share this around now!
Talk soon dear friend.
The numbers game baffles me Rebekah. Smart points all around. Numbers don’t buy your products. People buy your products, and read your posts, and become brand advocates and grow your small business. People drive small business growth. Use social to connect with people to do social right.
Social media blunders are grounded in trying to get something through social. Give something to some people through social. Getting grows easier.
I’ve grown my small businesses by helping people for free, through my blog and through my social media websites. You’ve done the same Rebekah, which is why you’ve become so successful. People sense someone who’s being social to be a friend, not because they want something from you.
Sharing this post of course 🙂
Ryan