Social Media Marketing -- Boon or Boondoggle?

11 replies
It seems that everywhere you turn these days, someone is promoting social media as the lowest cost, highest impact marketing channel available for small business owners. And that right there is a problem. Far too many people are promoting this idea -- many of whom are those likely to benefit if you make use of their media channel, enroll in their social media class, or hire them to manage your social media for you.

But what is the reality? A recent study reported by eMarketer shows that only 42% of small business owners who use social media marketing are receiving sales leads from Facebook, 36% from LinkedIn, and 16% from Twitter. That's a pretty poor showing from a marketing channel that's being touted as so effective.

The study doesn't indicate the quantity of leads these businesses are getting, or what percentage they've been able to convert into paying customers. But it does report how much these leads are costing them. More than 70% of the small businesses surveyed say they are either losing money or no more than breaking even on their investment in social media. Ouch! What small business can afford that?

How is it that so many small business owners are being misled about the value of social media for their marketing? Let's consider this question for independent professionals, the small business owners I know best.

The rest of the article is here:

Social Media Marketing: Boon or Boondoggle? - Get Clients Now! E-Letter
#boon #boondoggle #marketing #media #social
  • Profile picture of the author MadameBusiness
    I think it's still important to have a social media presence. You need to be everywhere on the web, particularly if your business is online. I think there is a fine line between over spending on your social media and ignoring it all together.
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    • Profile picture of the author brendawyles
      Originally Posted by MadameBusiness View Post

      I think it's still important to have a social media presence. You need to be everywhere on the web, particularly if your business is online. I think there is a fine line between over spending on your social media and ignoring it all together.
      Absolutely! You are right MadameBusiness, being present in any and every corner of the web is important to boost online business. Exposure plays an important role in making your business visible to the public, and that is what social media marketing caters.
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  • Profile picture of the author JonAlfredsson
    I totally agree with MadameBusiness. I also think that social media is still an essential tool. Building your online presence will also help your business to grow. And even if they just get 45% on FB, 36% from Linked In, and 16% from Twitter, adding it up all together is still a helpful percentage for business and a sign that social media marketing does work.
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    • Profile picture of the author davidkimball
      Good point. A good question, then, is to ask whether those sales would have happened outside of the social media and it was simply a matter of convenience?

      Is the main goal of social media brand awareness and protection?
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  • Profile picture of the author spennyc
    The viral potential with social media is just too good to ignore. The key knowing how to put a viral/interesting twist on something otherwise mundane.
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  • Profile picture of the author dayanthan
    So far I am going with "boondoggle" as I haven't really got anything out of it. It is too impersonal and I can't seem to build relationships and trust.
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  • Profile picture of the author Marco Lee
    I'm getting very little amount of traffic (or any) with social media. Thing that i can observe though is that if you give good headlines and thought provoking insights once in a while and then put a link there. There's a good chance that traffic could come.

    It should be used with good timing and not just pure bombardment maybe.
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  • Profile picture of the author paulie888
    Social media is definitely a boon, if managed and implemented properly. The problem here is that many businesses try to randomly implement social media themselves without really knowing how it works, or employ some cut-rate 'consultant' who doesn't truly know how to implement an effective social media campaign. If social media was really that useless, do you think huge multinational companies like Walmart, Target, CNN and General Motors would use it?

    Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author enrikm
    Social media will actually work for some business models but not for others.
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  • Profile picture of the author fated82
    Like everything else, you need a strategy. Most small businesses think that because SM is free and the barrier of entry is low, they just have to get in.

    Most went in without a strategy, just like most people who fail with IM, they gt the impression that it's easy money...Guess what? There are alot of hard work involve.
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  • Profile picture of the author BargainBookMole
    yes, strategy and work make sense--naturally!
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