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6 Things Social Media Can’t Do for Your Business

Social media is occasionally hailed as a do-all solution for businesses – an indescribably brilliant marketing platform, a can-do-everything publishing option, and a complete tool for keeping in touch with clients, customers, and business contacts. There’s a lot of hype in the social media world, and unfortunately very little of that hype is backed up by any real results.

A lot of that hype is grounded in the lack of understanding that many have about social media. It’s not a do-all tool, and it’s certainly not something that can revolutionize every business. While a range of brands and businesses have had their successes in social media, many more have ended up with nothing to show for their efforts, except of course wasted time and money.

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These six social media “can’t-dos” are truths that almost every online business owner needs to absorb. Yes, social media can be a valuable tool, but no, it can’t do everything for your business. Take a realistic approach to your social media strategy, and let these six occasional impossibilities serve as limits for your social media marketing efforts.

1. Socia media can’t please everyone.

There’s an overwhelming belief that a presence in social media will quiet all negative discussion of your business or non-positive feedback. While some social media circles are paralyzed by echos of positivity and endless grating optimism, most attract just as much criticism as they do praise. If you enter social media with intentions to make all coverage of your business positive, you could be in for a big surprise.

The best strategy is to use social media for discussion and connection. If someone is speaking negatively about your business online, reach out to them and let them know what you can do. Don’t try to control conversation online – that tactic rarely succeeds – just offer an alternative to unanswered criticisms.

2. Social media won’t generate unlimited leads.

The assumption that social media is a lead generation machine is, quite honestly, a little laughable. Sure, some businesses have used social media to their advantage for lead generation, but very few premium businesses and large-scale service businesses have generated valuable leads from social media.

That said, there are ways to generate leads through social media. By running simple search terms for clients and prospective customers, you can find people who are looking for what you’ve got on offer. Monitor discussion carefully on Twitter, set up Google Alerts, and look for high-value clients, but don’t expect social media to give them to you.

3. Social media can’t help you complete projects.

It can’t help, but it can serve as an occasionally worthless distraction. There’s a point in every company’s marketing efforts where expenditure begins to outweigh positive returns. For some, it’s when mass advertising takes place, while for others it’s when social media marketing takes up too much time and results in too few results.

Just remember, time spent on unsuccessful social media efforts is time that could have been spent on high-value projects and client acquisition. By all means use social media as a long-term marketing and branding tool, but don’t confuse wasted time on social media with valuable time that could be spent working.

4. Social media rarely translates into high-value clients.

Social media can be a highly valuable marketing platform, but only for some businesses. Nine Inch nails frontman Trent Reznor experienced some great results through social media for his tours and merchandise sales, seeing rapid growth and huge sales targets beaten. However, that’s Nine Inch Nails. They’re exciting, entertaining, and they’ve already generated their massive fan-base through years of touring, a range of albums, and huge amounts of radio play.

For them, social media was a valuable marketing platform. For a new business without any fans, followers, or long-term clients, social media might not be. While the passing reader might be interested in a product or project that’s available, it’s rare to gain long-term clients and valuable contracts on social media without some dedicated efforts towards marketing elsewhere.

5. Social media can’t replace other marketing efforts.

It’s interesting the amount of discussion and attention that social media receives, especially when compared to other online marketing methods. It’s nearly impossible to go a day without seeing another online article touting the benefits of social media marketing and the downsides of “old fashioned” marketing methods like PPC and SEO, all without any real evidence behind it.

The problem is that the numbers don’t agree. Social media only makes up a tiny part of the pie, even amongst businesses that are known for being social media experts and mega-marketers. By all means, invest in social media tactics for your products, services, or solutions, but don’t let them get in the way of other, more profitable and successful, marketing methods.

6. Social media alone can’t make you an expert.

The number of self-proclaimed social media experts is only increasing, at least according to studies and scans of Twitter profiles. Most of these apparent “experts” engage in nothing but endless hot air discussions, ranting on about the value of social media for their industry while bringing nothing new to the table.

The thing is, social media can make you an expert, but only when you actually have the skills required. Don’t just set out with a Twitter profile, Facebook fan page, and Ning community with intentions of becoming an expert – put in the work required to get there. Social media is packed with hot air and empty conversations, but by bringing some real value to the table you can become a real expert, and an in-demand online presence.

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