The Demise of Social Media

There was a point where we encouraged our clients to invest a large percentage of their marketing capital, time, and resources, into social media marketing.  It was an emerging powerful resource for many companies.  But, as in most things, time changes everything.

Now, before I get into things, I want to make something very, very clear.  I am NOT saying that social media has no power.  It is still a resource and every company needs to have.  It is still a place where people will engage with your brand.  Because of that, I am not suggesting that social media has no benefit.  We encourage our clients to continue to invest into it with your time.  However, the focus should lessen a bit.

Most companies have limited resources of time.  Employees and marketing professionals need to make choices each day as to where they place their time and efforts.  It isn’t about a finances because most of the social media services are free.  However, time is often more costly than money.

Social media platforms want to expand their revenue streams.  Because of that, advertising as well as paid posting became the norm and seems to have exploded across everyones feeds.  Add is the normal polarization and you have a storm that drives many people away from just enjoying the platforms.  For many people, they come to the channels with an agenda that doesn’t include you, as a business.  Will they see your posts?  Sure, maybe some will.  Will they engage as much with it?  Probably not. Just ask yourself, do you spend more time on your social media platforms or less?

Now, to just be clear again, we are not suggesting leaving social media.  Your company should be on the channels which are appropriate.  However, alternative types of marketing need to be found.  More content needs to be on your website that draws people to your brand.  Keep in mind, that all social media is shared space.  As such, they control who and what percentage of people will see your postings.  Your website is the only property online that you own.

Your website is the central hub of all marketing.  Everything you do should be driving traffic back to your website.  Once there, you need to have ways to engage and connect people to a different level of engagement.  Remember, the goal of marketing is not to get a client.  The goal of marketing deals with perception.  The goal is to be seen as the authority within your industry.  

In order to do this, a company must use Permission Based and Educational Based marketing.  You can find more here. Mastering these strategies takes the focus off of your brand and places it on the people who engage with it.  Asking different questions.

At Operation Crusader, we understand both Permission Based and Educational Based Marketing.  We can help you take your brand to a different level.  We can help from consulting to managing all of your online marketing.  Reach out to us and let’s have a conversation.