Tara Hunt, digital strategist, writer, speaker, and featured LinkedIn article author, recently posted an article dubbed "Social Media Doesn't Drive Sales... But That's Not the Point."
Her point is, basically,"You cannot force word of mouth."
Her argument: "It doesn't matter the media or the amount you spend on it – some stuff just doesn't spread. And though marketing impressions make a brand awareness difference – whether it's a billboard or a paid tweet – it's never guaranteed to work."
Tara Hunt's first problem: she is paying for social media advertising. Companies that pay for social media ads, and do not receive a good R.O.I., are stupid beyond belief. Social media is NOT about advertising. Paid posts are not going to spread simply because you paid for them. Social media, like everything in the Internet marketing "realm" (and yes, there is a realm) is about content, not the amount of money that you throw behind this content. By paying for your content to reach more people, you are already admitting defeat; you are saying that your content is not good enough to go viral on its own.
When a business joins social media, you are part of the crowd. Your posts will remind them of a friend that they either want to interact with or not. People want to see your pictures, your success stories, your trials and tribulations.If your paid advertising isn't working,you aren't telling the right story. People want to hear a story; they want to hear your story. And they know what is a ploy for likes and what is a genuine post about what your company has achieved. They want to hear what your up to, how you're doing, but they don't want to hear about it every single hour of the day. When a customer is interacting with you page, it is because they identify with you in some way. Using this, and appreciating this, is what will help you foster long term growth on your social media accounts, and eventually allow your social media to drive sales.
Consumers do not share social media posts about company because they are too busy creeping on their ex boyfriends and reliving old memories through their timeline to be interesting in that annoying advertisement on the side of their screen. In fact, the majority of millennial generation users don't event see advertisements anymore - they simply tune them out.
People want interaction. They want to hear directly from you, in real time. They want to have a conversation, whether on Facebook, Twitter, or (although I can't believe businesses are using it), Snapchat. That one retweet, reply, comment response, or yes, Snapchat reply, can make or break your brand in the eyes of a customer. In this regard, social media makes or breaks sales every day. But it is not your short term investment in a couple of Facebook ads that is going to do this - it is a long term commitment to interacting with your customers on the best social media platform to reach them, and convince them to spend some big bucks on your company.
Advertising is no longer a one way street, and many businesses are just starting to realize this. It is not enough to simply but information in front of a customer - you need to give them a reason to care, and this reason needs to relate to them in a personal way. This is a whole new playing field for marketing, and investing now is the only way to drive profit through social media in the future.
