As a business owner, sales leads became the focus of my existence. I tried everything from cold-calls to chamber of commerce mixers to sponsoring local events. It’s not too surprising that I was a
prime target for the advertising sales rep for some of my local radio stations. He showed me charts of their listener-ship, statistics of the important demographics that would hear my ad, and convinced me of the amazing rate of return that traditional radio advertising would provide. I’ll admit, it was pretty cool hearing my ad in my car for the first time! And you want to know what it got me? Honestly, I have no idea. Nobody ever came in and told me they learned about the great service I could provide by hearing my advertisement. All I know is that business seemed to stay the same when I started my ad and kept right on going after I let my campaign expire. Now I focus my energies online, especially Facebook. What does it get me? A lot! At least once a week, somebody contacts me that I’ve never spoken to before to tell me that they want my help. The conversation almost always starts with the introduction of “I follow you on Facebook.” Is Facebook really more powerful then traditional marketing? Yes, and here’s why.
“Decision Makers” were a huge group of listeners of the local radio stations, according to my sales rep. I have no reason to doubt that claim, though I am a decision maker, and to my knowledge nobody really knows what I listen to in my car. What does Facebook know about me? They know where I live, who my friends are, what my job is, that I’m a married mother of two small children, and on and on. And I hardly EVER post stuff on my personal account. With some of my friends, Facebook probably knows them better then I do! If somebody is marketing a great event that my kids would love, Facebook knows that I’ll respond to it.
I have literally had several people I’ve talked to on the phone say, “let’s get started. I just feel like I know you!” THAT is an easy sell! Somebody who finds me on social media has already experienced me interacting with them before they’ve even talked to me. For some reason the radio announcer’s voice and catchy jingle playing in between talk radio segments didn’t really give people a feel of my skills or personality. It didn’t make people feel comfortable with entrusting me with something as important as their online livelihood. I was always met with an aire of skepticism, as I tried to convince them that I really did know what I was doing and could help their business.
Unless you are willing to spend a LOT of money, you are going to be limited to the broadcast range of your local radio and television stations. I work with companies all over the world, it seems a little ridiculous to limit my marketing reach to a 45 mile circumference. I ran a campaign this weekend, and do you know where I got the most positive response? Canada and Australia (not sure why, maybe it was the Kangaroos playing hockey I featured in my ad). Even if I were to target something locally, it would be a little frustrating to know that somebody who would have responded to my ad didn’t hear it because their radio got fuzzy for 30 seconds while they sat next to a truck at a spotlight!
So, is it all that simple? Well, yes and no. The power is all right there, and really inexpensive compared to traditional marketing. But I’ve spent a lot of hours of research and trial-and-error to get my skills to where they are. It can be difficult to know where to start, which is why I’m doing a free webinar to get you pointed in the right direction.
Check out the info below and get signed up.
Facebook Marketing That Works
Webinar Date: Tuesday, June 9, 2015 2:00 PST
Register Here: http://www.howtostartsocialmediamarketing.com/
