Social Media Headaches: What to Do When Great Content Doesn’t Deliver

Many small businesses feel that they’re not seeing the value that they would like in their social media efforts.  They may be regularly posting on Twitter, but their comments aren’t being retweeted.  It could be that they’re generating great content on Facebook, but they don’t have very many followers.  If this is something that you’ve experienced yourself, you know the frustration of devoting time to your social media efforts and feeling like you’re getting little in return.  To counteract this problem, we suggest that rather than abandoning your efforts to create quality content, you concentrate on delivering it via email.

 Email marketing can be an excellent investment of your time and money.   In fact, the Direct Marketing Association reports that for every dollar spent on email marketing, there is a $40.56 return.  Additionally, 92% of people use email.  Compare that to the percentage of people who have social media profiles—only 56%—and it’s easy to see why email marketing is so effective.

Email marketing can appear overwhelming when you’re just getting started.  To simplify the process, we recommend that you consider the following:

• Marketing Automation (MA) Software – According to Forrester Research, businesses that use lead nurturing programs—like MA software—generate 50% more sales.  There are a number of free and low-cost MA programs available that make email marketing, lead management, and A/B testing far easier.  Check out this VentureBeat article for some great recommendations.
• Practice Consistency – Once you’ve found a good email marketing system, communicate with your leads regularly.  Don’t allow months to lapse between emails.
• Continue to Create Great Content.  Don’t get lax on creating interesting, relevant content.  The same great stuff that you were generating for your social media platforms should now be used in your email marketing efforts.
• Remember to Use a Call-To-Action (CTA) – A CTA refers to an explicit action that you would like a customer to take after receiving your email.  For instance, perhaps you could instruct email recipients to call to set up a consultation to learn more about the benefits of refinancing.
• Evaluate.  As with any marketing effort, you’re going to want to evaluate your results.  Do some email subject lines garner substantially higher email open rates than others?  Is there a certain type of content that your users forward more frequently?  When you start to get a feel for what works—and what doesn’t—modify your email marketing accordingly.