The Connect Magazine_Spring 2017

TECHNOLOGY
WHY MOST ENTREPRENEURS
STILL DON’T USE
SOCIAL MEDIA EFFECTIVELY
WRITTEN BY: ZACH WATSON
BETWEEN 2014 AND 2016, Instagram grew its user base by 100
million people every 9 months. Facebook is expected to surpass 2
billion monthly active users this year.
By any measure, social media platforms are among the fastest
growing, most frequented enterprises in history. And yet, a
significant portion of entrepreneurs still fail to capitalize on the
historical opportunity social media provides them to grow their
brands and expand their reach. That’s not to say entrepreneurs
aren’t on social media – most do have social accounts – but
those accounts are rarely cohesive or measurable. Research from
Infusionsoft indicates nearly half of small business owners have no
idea what their return on investment is for social media.
This disconnect between opportunity and effort is driven by
the widespread misconception that social media is nice to have,
but isn’t critical to growing a brand. A growing body of research
points in the opposite direction. It’s quickly becoming evident
that social media marketing can deliver tremendous business
results. So why don’t more entrepreneurs prioritize their social
media strategy?
SOCIAL ISN’T A PRIORITY
It’s easy to think that your social presence is ancillary to your
business growth, but this view simply isn’t supported by data.
Consider the power of reviews. Whether on a Facebook page or
Yelp profile, reviews are fueled by social media, and they have a
significant impact on the bottom line.
Research from Harvard Business School indicates that a one star
increase in your Yelp rating can be correlated to a 5 - 9 percent
increase in revenue. Additionally, BrightLocal found that 88 percent
of consumers trust online reviews as much as they trust in-person
reviews. The reality is word-of-mouth marketing – which has always
been the gold standard for marketing new businesses -- now lives
online and looks like a one to five-star rating.
Consumers require validation before they visit a retail location or
use a service, and social proof through online reviews and social
content is the primary way they find the information that informs
their decisions.
For entrepreneurs building new brands, few things are more
influential than social media.
THERE’S A SKILLS GAP
Serial entrepreneur and author Gary Vaynerchuk wrote, “In 2017,
if you are a business or organization of any kind that wants to be
heard in the world, refocusing the content you put out on Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, YouTube…and whatever else has the market’s
attention at the time, is a huge factor.” Vaynerchuk’s advice is good,
but what it doesn’t address is the difficulty most entrepreneurs face
when they building a social strategy.
If entrepreneurs understand the value of social, then they’re likely
stuck on the content strategy side. It’s a fallacy that determining what
to post and when to post are easy questions to answer. Measuring
the effectiveness of each post presents another problem, because
the reading social analytics represents yet another learning curve.
This skills gap in content strategy and social analytics leads many
entrepreneurs to delegate social marketing responsibility. All too
often the recipient of this new responsibility is someone with only
marginally more experience than the entrepreneur. Without proper
training or oversight, an inexperienced social media manager likely
won’t produce noteworthy results.
THE TIME ISN’T THERE
Time is precious resource for entrepreneurs. Whether it’s involvement
in day-to-day operations, analyzing profits and losses, or planning for
the future, there are myriad demands for an entrepreneur’s time.
This doesn’t leave much time for social media, despite it’s obvious
importance to businesses of all sizes. The result is a social media
strategy that’s sporadic at best and non-existent at worst. When
your business page looks like a ghost town, it’s difficult to convince
people to show up at your store.
HOW TO HAVE IT ALL
Given the obstacles, it may seem like an impossible task to maintain
your current level of productivity and focus on social media. What’s
going to give?
The answer is nothing if you partner with JumpCrew.
Our social media services are designed for entrepreneurs and local
businesses, so you can enjoy the benefits of a personalized social
media strategy i.e., more reviews, more web traffic, and more
followers, while you continue running your business.