Let’s be clear; the days of selling through social media alone have long gone. To be successful nowadays, a business needs a website. It remains true that social media can help build up your online presence, allow opportunities to interact with your customers and get customer feedback. However, it’s also true that social media engagement and reach are down, and you are not in control of their platforms.
While social media does, and we believe will continue to, have a place in the marketing and promoting of a business, it cannot be a business’ only method of online sales. Your business needs a website; let us demonstrate why.
Why Selling Through Social Media Doesn’t Work Anymore
Giving credit where credit’s due, social media has played a highly significant role in the success of thousands of small businesses. The ability to set up an account and grow an audience with no financial cost was very appealing. Business owners initially focused on selling through social media because of the:
- Low cost – if you didn’t want to pay for advertising, you didn’t need to. Just spread the word amongst friends and family.
- Huge audience – you were able to reach millions of people (theoretically, anyway).
- Interaction with your audience – you could chat, share a joke and ask your audience how you could best meet their needs.
- Brand loyalty – it was easy to grow the level of loyalty a customer had for your business when continually engaging with them.
While these benefits remain today, the value a business receives from them is decreasing. The amount of noise on social media is overwhelming and businesses are fighting to get their posts in front of their audiences.
Selling through social media is no longer effective. It is incredibly time-consuming and difficult to measure your ROI (return on investment). You cannot control what people post about your business, nor can you ensure your content is seen by the right people. Even worse, social media platforms are continually modifying the ways in which their platform works, needing you to continually upskill.
We’d go as far as saying that selling through social media can kill your business. Not only is it darn hard work, but customers also resent being sold to on what they use to socialise with others on. One of the main aims of social media is to connect users with those they wish to connect with. Yes, a person may want to stay connected with your business. But that doesn’t mean they will respond well to your sales pitches. Should they decide to purchase something from your business, social media doesn’t have the payment gateways to allow this to happen. The end result – they go elsewhere.
We believe that rather than selling through social media, you should use it as a tool to build your audience and then direct them to your website. On your website is where customers expect to be sold to, making it the ideal arena for promoting your products or services.
We can help get your business online with a website which not only looks great but helps grow your business. Get in touch with us today and let us help you launch your business into the digital world.
