There is a big social media lie out there.
You’ve heard it. We’ve all heard it.
It’s that social media is free.
And if you are trying to make social media 100% free, you might as well forget about using it to build your brand awareness, generate sales or leads, increase website traffic, or be an effective tool in your overall marketing strategy.
Social media is anything but free. There is a social media cost.
In fact, the cost of social media might surprise you.
Social Media is Not Free
Using social media platforms to market your business takes HOURS.
Those hours come from a person or persons through wages. And since some organizations need a social media team or to hire an outside agency, that can add additional monthly expenses.
That paid person (or team) will spend those hours:
- creating different types of content – writing, taking pictures, creating graphics and videos, coordinating with internal campaigns, curating website links, and more
- monitoring and responding to comments on posts
- monitoring and responding to direct messages
- reviewing analytics and/or creating reports
- keeping up with algorithm changes and what that means
- keeping up with platform changes and updates
- maintaining software, tools, and apps
To do all of the things in the list above, that person (or team) needs training, networking, time to research, and just keep up.
If you think you can get that level of commitment from a “free” volunteer or intern, you are mistaken (and we’d like to see the proof if you claim otherwise).
One more thing – organic social media growth can happen, but not without someone putting in hours of work and a sound social media marketing strategy. Organic growth leading to success is like winning the lottery. It happens, but not to you.
This is even BEFORE you set a social media advertising budget. Which, you should do! And again that carries a price tag.
While social networks are “technically” free to use, don’t believe the lie that there is no cost to using it to impact your business.
Make social media a budget line item right now.