With all the changes made to algorithms, to who owns what etc. in social media in the past year it’s a fair question to ask if it’s time to abandon your social media marketing for your business? Are businesses, especially small business, really benefitting from all these changes? From an ad or sponsored post every other post, to video only to every day Twitter changing it’s mind on what it’s doing it’s fair to start looking for other traditional outlets, like email marketing, to get more bang for your buck in terms of reach and monetary investment.
Social media marketing used to be the main catalyst for businesses to reach their customers and new ones as well, but now social media all looks the same with everyone trying to copy each other. And trying to get your posts to be seen organically is like trying to figure out a rubik’s cube with one hand tied behind your back. Everything these days is pay to play if you want your posts to be seen which is what these social media companies want; more money.
Let’s take a closer look at what some of these social media companies are really offering businesses these days in terms of social media marketing.
Facebook is past it’s prime. It’s nothing more these days than a glorified yearbook of past posts and your relatives arguing over politics as if it was Thanksgiving again. The name change to Meta hasn’t changed the fact that a lot of users have fled Facebook and they’re not coming back. You have a better chance of trying to grab a stuffed animal from one of those arcade games with a claw than using Facebook to get new sales let alone any sales.
For all those Elon Musk fanboys out there, it’s pretty certain that the genius label he had was only attached to him because of the money he inherited from his father’s business because he has become a master class in poor management due to a fragile ego in business. With the functionality changing daily based on his frail emotionally intelligence or allowing ban accounts that spew hate and misogyny to be allowed back to major advertisement investors fleeing; Twitter is going down faster than a soccer player after a phantom foul.
Elon has ruined Twitter and he is basically bankrupting it because he believed in his genius label and he has shown that he doesn’t know a thing about business. Look at what he is doing to Tesla because of Twitter.
As for your business being on Twitter; it’s impossible to keep up with all the changes Musk tries to implement every other day. And now with the new For You and Following tab it’s clearly evident that the inmates are running the asylum. The For You tab is supposed to be accounts based on other like accounts you interact with but the algorithm is nothing more than a bunch of right wing political hodgepodge that provides no value. Musk hasn’t shied away from endorsing and even subscribing to political conspiracy theories or bringing accounts that spew hate like Donald Trump, Kanye and Andrew Tate.
Do you really want to see a post of Andrew Tate spewing his toxic masculinity and then your post announcing a new product update right after? The answer is no because people will be so outraged at the nonsense said by Tate that your post gets overlooked.
The power and intrigue Twitter once had for your social media marketing strategy has faded faster than a child sitcom star.
The once holy grail in social media has lost it’s way and identity. Instagram used to be the standard, the social media app that gave you the best ROI on organic posts and paid ads. Now it’s just people posting videos from TikTok and a bunch of ads every other posts for things that have nothing to do with the interests of your customers.
When users started to flee to TikTok, Instagram, a once photo sharing app, went all in on video to keep users and thus losing what made it great. It could be said that whatever Meta or Facebook touches it ruins.
Feeds these days are nothing but reels, videos and other nonsense. Good luck trying to cut through all that noise, the bots and hackers trying to show you how you can make money with Bitcoin. And if you’re not doing videos every post you can kiss any type of engagement goodbye. Want to post a photo, good luck getting a pair of eyes on it without a bot offering to pay the first 5 people who respond to their comment on your post.
TikTok
TikTok is the youngster on the block; the cool things for kids these days with all these challenges for people to do. And that is the problem with using TikTok for your business; if you’re not doing what everyone else is doing you won’t get seen. How many of the same videos do you see from different accounts in your feed? People doing the same voiceover about being listening to gangsta rap in the school pickup line then pretending to be appropriate when another parent walks by; it’s the same videos over and over.
Now with the United States thinking about banning it because of the Chinese influence do you really want to invest into something that might not be around much longer?
What Happens to Social Media Marketing Now?
Brands and businesses will continue to catch a falling a sword that is social media and try to get their business out there. Unless you’re flushed with cash to throw at paid ads or able to find your 15 seconds of fame, your social media marketing strategies aren’t really going to bring the ROI it once did.
Don’t get me wrong there are still some great accounts out there putting out amazing content, but who gets to see it? From fake geniuses that suffer who are vulnerable to emotional breakdowns because of their fragile egos or algorithms that are skewed to who pays more or to the hottest video of the second, social media isn’t really a viable option these days for businesses to grow. Sure you can get continue to get clicks, but look at your insights or stats YoY and you can see a steep decline. And honestly, it’s only to get worse before it gets better, if it ever does get better.
Where to Invest Your Time and Money
What is one thing people look at regardless if it’s a sponsored post or a hot new trend? Email. Email is still king when trying to reach customers, both new and old alike. You have a better chance of converting clicks and sales via email than with a social media post.
Sure you have competition in the inbox of your customers, but with a strong subject line and straight to the point content and a strong CTA, your ROI is vastly higher than with paying for a post to be seen by 200 people.
Social media isn’t dead, but it’s on life support and the priest has already came by to administer last rights. Sure social media can miraculously spring back to life, but you have a better chance of being a Bitcoin billionaire before that happens.
Image by pikisuperstar on Freepik