Myths about company pages on social networks
How do you know if it's the right time to have a baby?
How do you know if it’s the right time to have a baby? Some people do it because they feel they really need it – to have a little living being around, which looks like you. Some people feel obligated into having a baby by their age, relatives or friends’ examples. Some people have figured out that it’s more profitable now because maternity pay rates have been raised. And for some people it was a shotgun marriage.
The situation with company pages on social networks is the same. All of us know “shotgun” pages: few subscribers, news in the feed copied from the official website. The last news item was posted a month ago. The number of people, who commented or somehow reacted to the page, goes to zero. The page was most likely made without any thought given to questions like “Why?”, “How to estimate the result?”, “Which resources will the page require?”.
“Lucrative” pages are also well-known. There may be a lot of subscribers: ad placement is not such a big deal. But the content is mainly a number of posts about company news and product, which are of no interest for anybody. Besides the posts are usually automated, which means there is nobody to respond to any comments if ever. Such pages are created with the hope for a magic effect of just mere page creation and some formal content in place.
A “because-everyone-else-has” page, similar to having a baby to be appraised, approved and accepted by society, formally looks good. There may be diverse content, commented by the audience from time to time. A dead giveaway for this kind of pages is absence of inspiration and an obvious priority of the audience quantity over their activity on the page (less than 10% of active subscribers). The number of subscribers is always important – this is a ground for comparison with the competitors and this is what is usually shown to the managers. The reaction to the posts is low because the content is not catchy. And the content doesn’t get the audience hooked because it was written for the sake of an impression but not for the sake of communication.
And “beloved children” are distinguished not only by a rapid growth of the number of subscribers, but rather by how active they are on the page. Such pages may seem stupid but they have users who not only leave their comments but also share links and ideas (not complaints!). And we can’t be indifferent to this content and we do react. This is because “beloved children” are created by inspired people – no matter if you were lucky with the SMM agency or an SMM specialist.
Goals that a company can achieve with the help of its social media page.
A pragmatic reader has a fair point here: children are not a kind of business. But what ROI does your page have, even if it’s a “beloved-children” type page? I have to say that I consider counting ROI of a single marketing tool to be a sham except the cases when the business uses this very tool only. ROI heavily depends on how much the company popularity and reputation cost and on the damage competitor activity or a change in the reputation can cause. In 90% of cases it is impossible to count sales driven by the page and thus justify the funds invested.
So, back to reality, a company page is able to:
- Drive brand and product awareness. The power on a TV ad lies in multiple repetitions for a huge audience. The power a website is in unlimited space for information. The power of a social network page is in the reader activity and their digestion of information ?????????? Similar to homeopathy, it works if taken by small portions but often and during a long period of time.
- Establish communication with the target audience and become “their” brand, enter a potential customer’s close circle. A customer decision is ALWAYS subconscious. Even if they can logically explain the reasons for this or that choice, they do not know the true reasons behind it.
- Respond to unpleasant situations faster. Nowadays users visit company websites less and less often but more and more often post information on their social pages with the reference to the brand pages (if there are such). Quick solution may mean protection of the company reputation.
- Sell. It has to be clear that a sale is not a mere shipping goods. A sale is a dance which ideally results in both parties being happy. On a social media page you go through all the sales stages not with a single customer but together with the whole audience. You establish the contact, define the customer needs, make a presentation and handle objections, of course. If the product is new, you also have to teach your customer. As a rule you don’t close the sale on the social media page. Not because it is impossible, but because usually it does not make any sense.
Goals that a company cannot achieve with the help of its social media page.
The more often people see death, the more they believe immortality. Nevertheless, a company social media page is not able to:
- Boost sales if you are not happy with their amount. You can sell online but you cannot change your product value. If your traditional sales channels don’t work, non-traditional ones won’t change the situation.
- Lower the amount of negativity. Some companies have begun to turn towards their customers and to realize that they have to work with online comments and reviews. But the companies continue to hope that they can work with reviews on their own platforms only (their website, a social media page, a blog). But you have to handle all comments and reviews to make your work with negativity effective.
- Change customers. Media advertising, which big companies are still more experienced in, is based on manipulation. Social networks show that you can manipulate people but you cannot make them be comfortable. If your audience like dirty jokes and naughty stories, they will like them all the same. And if you publish lectures on ????????? ?????? on you page, it won’t change the audience, it will only change the number of readers.
I wish breathtaking dances and inspirational pages to all companies and subscribers.