I’m Tired of Watching Companies Fail at Social Media Marketing

Over the last couple of years, I have witnessed far too many companies who get started in Social Media and abandon their efforts within a few months because they don’t get the results they were looking for. These companies all have one thing in common. The expectations were unrealistic and they failed to commit the appropriate resources required to be effective.

First, let’s talk about expectations. The president, CEO, and vice president levels of organizations simply don’t know what to expect from social media. As a result and because the down economy is driving a need to get a quick return on investment, they are looking for short-term financial results. For 99% of businesses, this simply isn’t going to happen. Social media marketing is about building a following, building relationships, and leveraging these relationships for long-term mutual gain. If you’re expecting someone to land on your Facebook page and hop straight into your sales funnel, it isn’t going to happen. Here is what you can expect from social media marketing that is well planned and executed:

• Increased Sales Efficiency
• Improved Reputation
• Differentiation
• Risk Reduction
• Client Retention
• Brand Association
• Long Term Revenue
• Opportunity Creation
• Perception Shifting
• Public Relations Exposure
• Client Education
• Network Growth
• Building Trust
• Innovation

Some companies will look at this list and say, “That’s not what we’re looking for.” If you find yourself in this situation, then ask yourself if this is what your clients or customers are looking for. Like many of our clients, you may have to do some research to figure this out.

If your company decides to move forward with social media marketing, then the next step is critical to your success. You have to allocate and dedicate the appropriate resources to be successful or you will fail. Social media marketing represents a shift in your thinking and potentially a shift in your spending.

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Let’s say you have a marketing budget of $10,000 per month. In the past, you’ve paid an advertising agency this money in exchange for their services. If you’ve made the decision to enter the social media world, you have two choices.

Your first choice would be to pay a company like HRB to manage your blogging and social media efforts. Your second choice would be to keep that work in-house. If you keep that work in-house, I recommend you initially dedicate about 2 to 4 hours per day of someone’s time to manage your blog, social media, and email marketing activities. I would shift some of this money away from and “downsize” your traditional media efforts that have lost effectiveness over time. This allows you keep your costs in check and move into a new avenue of marketing. If you fail to clearly and effectively allocate these resources, your social media efforts will fail.

I think every business can benefit from a well planned and well executed social media strategy. How important is it to your business model, and how much of your marketing budget should be allocated? It varies from company to company, and only you can make the decision on the shape and scope of your efforts. Like all marketing, it is a risk. Unlike a lot of marketing, it is fairly measurable because of the vast statistics available on the Web.

So what’s my advice to you? Do it well, or don’t do it at all. I don’t want to see you fail.