I am sitting here looking out of the window on holiday and remembering a time when there was no social media and there was no internet.  In fact I was also remembering when there were no mobile phones.  And I think I preferred it.  Do you remember those days when you could go on holiday and no-one could get hold of you unless they had the name of the hotel you were staying in?  Total switch off!

It sounds good, but actually now that we have the connectivity, I find myself getting anxious if I go somewhere where there is no “t’interweb” and still have to check my social media several times a day – when in reach of the web.  Well, I guess I do run a social media business after all, but still….

And it made me think.  Because we are continually connected nowadays, do we sometimes have unrealistic expectations of our social media.  For example , on a personal level, do you think that everyone you are connected to sees your FB posts?   Would you be shocked to know less than 20% of your connections see it the lovely picture of your dinner you just posted (oh, you don’t do that?  Just me then lol).

But seriously – when most businesses start ‘doing’ social media they have entirely the wrong expectations from it.  Here are some of the fallacies many people believe about social media

1. All my friends will connect with my business account
2. All my business contacts will connect with my business account
3. I need to be on all the social media
4. If I spend loads of time on social media I will get loads of enquiries
5. Social Media is free so lets do it

There are loads of others.  Social media is not a quick fix, or a cure all.  It should be part of a well thought out marketing strategy.  It should have a purpose and a main goal.  That could be customer service, it could be brand awareness, it could be product launch, it could be lead generation.  Unless you know what the main purpose is you will never achieve it.

For example – in my recruitment business – my main purpose was positioning.  Most of my clients for that business have always come through networking and referral.  But I also know that in almost every single case – BEFORE someone who was recommended to me rang me, they checked out my social media.   People expect you to be there, to look congruent with what they expect to see and to be responsive.

So – if you are not sure your social media is working for you, if you think that perhaps it is not aligned with everything else you are doing or possibly your expectations are unrealistic, then book one of my free monthly 30 minute strategy sessions.  I have 3 or 4 of these sessions available a month, and here is what you will get out of it.

• A clear understanding of what is working and what could work better on your social media
• Which channels you absolutely must use for your specific business
• How to get the outcome you want by identifying the main purpose of your social media
• At least 3 things you can implement straight after your session that will improve your results.

Here is what a couple of my clients have said about their strategy calls:

 

Thanks for our Skype call yesterday. You gave us a lot of insight on what we must do to get people to engage with us.

Just a little note to say thank you for all your totally honest and real business advice.