When companies first get into social media marketing, they make this MAJOR mistake, especially when it comes to frequent posts. Learn what it is and what to do instead.
Social Media Marketing can be very intimidating to the new business owner. What do you say? What do you do? Will people judge you and your business incorrectly if you post the wrong stuff? Are you just going to annoy people?
The good news is that if you’re brand new, no one knows who you are or what you do, so the impact (if any) will be minimal. The bad news is that if you make this mistake you could fail at the whole process, get discouraged, and eventually go out of business, die alone, and pollute the world with your sad, miserable corpse (that may be a little bit of an overstatement, but who knows?).
No! Social Media Marketing is NOT THAT SERIOUS. Remember that. It’s an awesome, new, and effective marketing method that can be 100% FREE if you want it to be. You just need to learn the ropes, do work, and avoid this major mistake.
The Major Social Media Marketing Mistake
Here it goes… posting about your awesome product or service (what I like to call “Buy My Stuff Posts”) is for your FOLLOWERS, not your PROSPECTS. The only people who want to see information that directly relates to buying your stuff already know who you are, have bought your service, and want more. You will not get new customers by using Buy My Stuff Posts.
The majority of people online are your cold prospects. People who don’t know what you sell or who you are. These people are not interested in your product/service… yet. So, the big question is:
If I’m Not Promoting My Product/Service Directly, What Am I Posting About?
Good question! Since I’m big into Content Marketing, the answer shouldn’t be a big surprise. You should be posting information that is useful to your customers and related to your product/service offering. It should be interesting, enticing, and demonstrate what an expert you are in your field.
This is a soft approach to the sales process. It gives people a taste of the vast wealth of information you can provide while subtly showing them what you’re capable of. It also gives them a “freebie” that they will appreciate (even if they don’t realize that they’ve entered your sales process by consuming it, hehehe).
Won’t My Competitors Steal My Secret Sauce?
The whole idea of giving away useful information for free is scary to business owners. What if someone discovers your “secret sauce” and rips off the whole business?!? As incredible as your business may be, the amount of time and effort it would take for your nemesis to completely rip off your concept is unrealistic.
Someone that unoriginal is probably going to get bored with the whole mess and fail miserably before it impacts your business anyways. ESPECIALLY since you’re developing your offering everyday with useful articles like the one you’re reading right now (you’re welcome).
What You SHOULD BE Posting About
I was the editor of a magazine for years and have been an active “blogger” for a decade, and for that reason creating new article content ideas comes easy to me. I’ve literally created thousands of pages of content, videos, graphics, and pictures over the last decade. So, I tend to oversimplify the process of creating content ideas and therefore frustrate the people I’m attempting to train.
Lucky for you I’m a generous and introspective man who acknowledges his character flaws and seeks to compensate for them by giving crap away for free. So here are two sure-fire ways to get ideas for useful social media posts. Another big hint about success with social media marketing is that YOU NEED A WEBSITE. The whole process is pretty useless without one.
Social Media Marketing Idea Generation #1
There is a time and place for creating massively original, creative content; if you’re new to social media marketing, that time is not now. The truth is that you don’t know enough to create something crazy and unique. You will eventually. For now, what you need to do is SOMETHING. Literally anything on your social media posts that isn’t directly promoting your product/service.
Start by going to the top company in your industry. Look for the biggest and best company out there and see what they’re posting about. Most large companies have entire departments dedicated to content and social media marketing with million dollar budgets. YOU WILL NOT OUT-THINK THESE PEOPLE. See what they’re posting about, take the idea and customize it with your unique spin and opinion on the topic. Done deal.
Social Media Marketing Idea Generation #2
Like most things in life, the answer will come to you if you use Google. Type in the most common phrase that you think people would use to find the answer to a problem solved by your service/product. If it’s fitness it might be “how to lose fat.” If you install home theatre systems it could be “best home theatre speaker brands.” If you sell merchant services it could be “how to read merchant service statements.”
Whatever it is, skip the promoted/advertised listings and see what pages come up (you may have to go to page 2). Look specifically for the articles that pop up. Chances are the company knows what your customers are looking for. Review their content and then browse through their blog and see what else they’re writing. Make list of potential topics and get to work!