How Much Does Social Media Cost?

How Much Does Social Media Cost? That’s like saying “how much does a house cost?” To find out you need to look at marketing expenses from a different perspective.  How much are you willing to pay to acquire a new customer? What is the value of your own product or service?  Determine that value based on what other similar companies are charging for the same product or service.  In 2011, Vox sold almost 100 accounts to small businesses that purchased mostly on price alone.  They wanted to know how much it would cost to post to Facebook and Twitter every week.  That’s it.  How much to post?  Most companies that approach social media marketing in this manner don’t see a return on their investment.  They spend the money because they know social media is important, they don’t understand how it works, they want an expert to handle it, and they have no idea what to expect.  In fact, their expectation is almost always greater than the investment.  When they don’t collect new business they cancel rather than invest.  So we stopped selling posting only services because the expectation is too high and the conversions if any are too low.  Posting alone is like walking into a room full of potential customers, telling them something you think they want to hear, and then walking out of the room before they respond.  You need to hear their response. You need to measure their response.  You need to stay in the room. Like websites, you don’t just build them and walk away.  The more available you are the more business you convert.  You should be on your accounts daily.  I haven’t met an industry that this doesn’t apply to.  And you need to tell your story.  The better your story, the more business you’ll convert, and the more you can charge.  We don’t sell on price.  We sell on value.  What we do converts business.  It works for us just as it will work for you. Here’s a great example of how video tells the story of a cooler company who’s smallest size sells for $250 and larger sizes sell in the thousands.  The manufacturers are two brothers from Texas.  They build almost indestructible coolers.  To prove it they shoot videos of wrecking balls and bombs trying to destroy their coolers.  Real guys, from Texas, with tough coolers.  So you’re not buying a cooler.  You’re buying an emotion.  You’re buying toughness and strength.  By purchasing the $2,500 cooler you are saying to your friends that you’re tough, strong, and you can afford it.  Purchasing a Yeti Cooler is making a statement about the type of person you are.  The point is that what you sell should have value. If it works you should stand behind it.  Then you should tell your story in a creative way that reinforces how you feel about your business, your product and your service. Then you charge what it’s worth for you to do the best job you can for your customers.  You can do that because you’re worth it. The story you tell reinforces that your product or service is a good value. Here’s the video.