One headline I just saw in my newsfeed was “Is Social Media Right for Your Business? The short answer was “YES.” Their point was that every business MUST have an “online personality” represented on Facebook, Instagram, etc. or they’ll lose to competitors who do.

I immediately pondered and thought, “What about the companies not using social media who win business from companies that do?”

I can think of too many examples including clients and other successful businesses I work with. I just pulled a job from a business swimming in a rich Social Media broth and gladly gave it to one that still uses dialup internet on an as needed basis. Landline phone only. The owner is eyeing a nice retirement soon, BTW.

For good reasons, many businesses don’t want social media and don’t need it, at least for now.

Expert Advice or Sales Pitch?

Despite what you may hear from some marketers out there (who sell social marketing services), having an “online personality” on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter or any other other platform is not a marketing necessity today. You may choose to position your brand in a manner that works better in other media, including online, such as your own great website and a strong trade presence. Maybe a top-notch personal selling organization drives your growth.

Pay the freight or nothing gets delivered.

The truth is, your customers find your business and come to you primarily through channels other than social media. It doesn’t make sense to spend a lot of time posting a bunch of quality content on social media unless you pay for people to see it, and have a strong value proposition,  just like any other advertising. Then you may gain sales opportunities from the added brand impressions. You know the advertisers courting you on Facebook if you spend any time there. They’re paying and you’re noticing.

So, unless you plan on budgeting for advertising, think of social media as a sidebar in your overall branding and public relations efforts. You want to keep an eye on it and pay to boost it when you need to see results from it.

Now that some of the dust is settling, we’re understanding Social Media’s marketing limitations and weaknesses as well as its continuously fluctuating opportunities.

One thing I’ve learned as a veteran professional user is never expect anything of great value to come out of free or public media space but expect great results from earned relationships.

The post Is Social Media Dead? appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

I was tempted to write the headline, “Is Social Media Dead?” but I’ll avoid sensational hype and stick to real news & commentary. Microsoft’s announced purchase of LinkedIn immediately raised questions about the future of social media. For businesses, it will likely become even more of a pay-to-play medium.

I’d like to advance a discussion about reevaluating our social media marketing strategies to avoid wasting time at the expense of more profitable sales and marketing activities. Social is here to stay but we need to use it better.

Sales is the end game of all business activity. Every CEO cares first about making sales because without customers there is no company. CEOs would do well to reconsider what social media is really doing for them in 2016. Most of us have had enough time and experience, including lots of trial and error, to understand what social media really is and its value to businesses – which will continually ebb and flow. Every platform; Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, etc. will develop its algorithms to incentivize or push businesses into paid advertising and premium services – more and more as the startup phases have passed.

To them, it’s all about sales too! Social Media companies have the captive eyeballs and ears you need to reach. They’ve invested billions to build these networks and engage the masses. They cannot give businesses free space to promote or there would be no space left for real social interaction, and they’d go out of business. I predict that you can expect to pay more as time goes on if you want your social media content to be seen by enough potential customers to get results.

CEO: “Please go sell something!”

Now let’s talk about results. What are you getting out of your social media efforts now that you’ve been using it for years? Anecdotally, I have clients (both retail) who have made numerous direct sales on Facebook and lured dozens of people into stores for special promotions. I have other clients (B2B) who’ve had some success on LinkedIn and virtually zero results from Facebook even as they strive to follow “best practices.”

Is there any wonder about the difference in experiences between consumer/retail and B2B when it comes to Facebook vs. LinkedIn? Remember that LinkedIn was set up for business networking and Facebook was set up for social networking. There is a profound difference between the two even if they meld sometimes.

If your company sells primarily to other businesses, social media can be a confounding puzzle. The conflicting message is “We know we should be using it effectively but we can’t afford to waste time on marketing activities that fail to produce a profitable return.” Perhaps all we really need to do is prioritize social media properly in the marketing mix.

How do you prioritize social media properly in your marketing mix? This will be different for every business, but generally speaking, if you’re in B2B, you need to leave the office and visit more clients, use the phone instead of direct messages, concentrate on your LinkedIn network, and stick to your core value messages in all media.

One of my clients and I are having a serious conversation about their social media component and we’ve made a few key adjustments, shifting more toward great web content, article publishing and direct marketing.

Lastly, I’ll share the gist of what social media has done for my business practice. Many people have endorsed my firm as having expertise in social media marketing and I’ve been at it since about 2006. Here’s a quick summary for my marketing services business:

Focus on the Big 3

LinkedIn – Very effective for extending my business networking online and worldwide. I’ve gained new business directly from LinkedIn, including clients outside my normal geographic footprint. Forget about your LinkedIn Business Page. Your Personal Profile is where ALL of the valuable action is on LinkedIn. I make LinkedIn my professional online hub after my website.

Facebook – I have a large network of friends, including business associates and all of my business related posts are ignored on my personal page. Interestingly, even my best business content is also ignored on my Facebook Business Page. Not so with my retail clients because their customers are mostly having fun when they shop and we engage them in fun ways. For business service customers, “shopping” is mostly work. People are on Facebook for entertainment, not work.

Twitter – I’ve added value to my brand on Twitter as people see, favorite and retweet my messages. I go to Twitter for ideas and to “listen” for trending topics in my business. People and businesses break news on Twitter. It can be a good resource for sales intelligence. I have successfully contacted prospects and sold to them by paying attention to tweets from both the client and my competition.

Other social networks like Instagram, Pinterest, etc all offer potential sales & marketing opportunities but the big 3 for most businesses remain LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Insofar as these platforms help you start face-to-face conversations with interested prospects, you’re using social media successfully for your business.

The post Social Media Marketing or Just Good Vibes? appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

This is important and serious business. Social Media – Facebook and Twitter in particular, have a bad rap in some business circles. Here’s why you need to consider some combination of Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram, depending on what business you’re in.

The post One salesperson = 2,000 more. Sound good? appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.