Nowadays, business owners and marketers receive a myriad of special "business offers." Offers that promise you the Promised Land: Twitter, QR Codes, Pay-Per-Click, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn- how does the average business owner keep up with all of these? How do you know who to trust? Will these even help your business?
While I am considered a social media consultant, I am hired by every single one of my clients to do online marketing consultation. I'm not interested in getting fans, followers, or a flashy web page. I'm interested in creating things to increase sales.
I've read a few books on Lee Iacocca, and one of his famous business lines is, "Can you show me where it's working?"
Basically this was his response to anyone with an idea. Anytime someone comes to you with a brand new scheme on social media, your first response should always be, "Can you show me where it's working?" It can be as simple as recommending you get on Facebook or organize a Tweet-Up.
A lot of the best theories out there are just that: great theories. When it comes to practice, these theories will be nothing more than a waste of time and money.
I feel a lot of social media and online marketing consultants have turned social media marketing (specifically Facebook marketing) into a cure all for your marketing needs. Or they think that you need to jump into a new technology right away, because the idea seems good.
Take QR codes for example. It seems that every time I turn around, a consultant is recommending QR codes to their clients. I mean, how cool is it that you can use your smart phone to scan a billboard and receive special offers? The problem is, statistics like those from Forrester Research show that during May, June, and July of 2011, only 5% of Americans who use mobile phones actually scanned a QR code-typically young affluent males. Personally, every QR campaign that I have set up has not been utilized, and I know it's not because of me (ego alert). Is this going to be a good investment for your business? Sure, the technology will eventually make it so that these are a good investment, but right now they're not. Show me where it's working.
Today I want you to ask yourself the following questions (or your social media expert, if you have one):
- Facebook Marketing: Can you show me where it's working?
- 12 Tweets an hour: Can you show me where it's working?
- The new "silver bullet" in SEO: Can you show me where it's working?
I think you understand the concept. Move away from the "buy this product and get $1505952 in sales in 24 hours" and move towards the methods that are proven, may take more time, but will work in the long run for your business.
Don't think that every new "Internet miracle" will help your business or bring you sales. There are certainly tools that can help your business, but there are also a lot of tools that could harm your reputation and hurt your business.
Make sure that you're reading and hiring people who have an interest in your business, and will bring you far more than the money you've invested.
Jerry Nihen is the Head Consultant and CEO of Jay Nine Lessons. Not only does he do private consultations and coaching for businesses, but he also has written the Conquering the Social Networking Jugle: Training Course, that is a full scale course mean to to teach you how to effectively set up an online sales funnel through social media marketing.