The Big Social Media Marketing No-No You’re Probably Doing

Here’s the deal: I’m going to let you all in on a big digital marketing secret.

The big social media marketing for business no-no that you’re probably all doing and you should all stop immediately (or at least rethink) – no matter what business, industry or market you’re in.

Here it goes.

Are you ready?

STOP JUST TRYING TO SELL stuff on social media.

What does that mean? Well, it’s pretty simple. The strategies that worked in the newspaper, through direct mailers and on the TV – they do not work on social media. Period.

Social media marketing is a form of inbound marketing. Cue the buzzwords.

Inbound marketing, according to HubSpot, is a marketing “approach focused on attracting customers through content and interactions that are relevant and helpful — not interruptive.”

What does that mean?

It means that people don’t want you to sell them things in the traditional way that we as marketers and humans want to sell things! There’s too much clutter and too many messages being delivered every second of every day. Screaming, “buy my product!!!” is not. going. to. work.

Here are some Google-able statistics to help prove my point:

Facebook kicked off 2017 with more than 65 MILLION FACEBOOK BUSINESS PAGES.

65 MILLION – and that was 8 months ago!

On top of that, over 1 million businesses are actively using Instagram. Then there’s Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Snapchat, all competing for the time and energy of our coveted target audiences.

So, what do we do?

Here are some guidelines to help you steer clear of my big social media marketing no-no and focus on building a brand and marketing strategy that people will care about:

Be authentic and tell your story. If you say you’re different, BE different and tell everyone why. Don’t just say, “we’re the best” – SHOW the world why you’re truly the best and have the stats or information to back that up. It’s not enough just to tell people what they want to hear, you need to walk the walk if you talk the talk. (Hint: use video).
Give your audience something they need and want. Help them solve a problem, be informative, entertaining and thorough. This is something that Google has been striving for through its SEO algorithm updates and frankly, I’m glad. Gone are the days of overbearing messages, spammy sales language and crappy marketing strategies. BE BETTER THAN THAT (and please stop keyword stuffing, it makes me sad).
Incorporate visuals with every post – EVERY post. I’m serious, do not post on Facebook ever again without a video, link or photo. Ever. Again.
Be real. Behind every product is a company and people care more about supporting companies than they do about buying things. Tell your story. If you don’t know how, check out literally anything by Seth Godin or Simon Sinek.

When all else fails – analyze data.

Not sure if what you’re doing is working? If you’re doing anything at all – you should be monitoring some sort of metric. Whether it be Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, etc., if you’re not looking at the data to see if your strategy is working, you might as well go throw a bunch of spaghetti into a swimming pool because you are going to have no idea if anything is working at all.

Interested in how we tackle social strategy? Shoot an email to marketing@meetotm.com and one of our marketing experts will be in touch.

Back to All Insights

Brittany Mathisen

2023-09-27

OTM has been a wonderful marketing partner for the last four years. We have shifted marketing plans over time and they are very open and explained all the details as we moved forward with new plans. They have done everything from help design and update offices, managed social media, planning marketing events, and many more things. The Hear for Holidays Event that we do each year is one of my favorite events that we work on together. Rachel and the whole OTM team have brought my marketing vision to life and I love everything they have done for my business. I look forward to what the future holds as we continue to work together.

Yvonne Myers

2023-07-30

I worked with Old Town Media (OTM) on a quick grant project that had a 6-week timeline. They were very thoughtful about whether they could meet the grant expectations and needs before accepting the work. The team at OTM then completed extensive research and facilitated focus groups to ensure the product they created met the needs of the end-users. They met all of the grant deadlines and far exceeded our expectations of the portal they created for us! I would not hesitate to use their services again and highly recommend them to others looking for a professional, high quality, and FUN team to work with.

Julie Dokoupil

2023-07-18

OTM is a locally owned firm that I have worked with for over 13 years. They are an amazing team of people who know and understand current marketing technology and strategies. My husband and I are starting a new business and they have helped us out even with small details to get our business going.

TunDesign

2023-06-20

I have seen a significant increase in community engagement which has helped bolster our brand presence, exceeding the expectations of the entire team. Carrie and her team provides consistent communication through slack and emails which has led to an effective and trusted partnership. Truly appreciate how hard-working, agile, and driven everyone on the team is. Thanks again for eveything your team has done for our company.

David Haase

2023-06-07

OTM has done a fantastic job bringing the Fort Collins Peach Festival back to the public! OTM is dealing with several volunteers on a committee and keeping everyone informed, best in business advice and a platform that will serve us for years. We didn't know what we needed and were presented with choices and educated about each before implementation. Kerrie and Brianna have done great work for us! Dave Haase Committee Chair Fort Collins Peach Festival

Dana Sednek

2023-03-15

Using their Path to Growth Model, OTM not only gave me a path forward, but they helped me clarify my strategy, direction, and actions for how to set and launch my business. I was able to launch quickly and I see the flywheel ahead that is necessary to accelerate customer intake and revenue building. Thrilled with the outcome!!!

Liza Adams

2023-01-13

As the Head of Marketing at Encompass Technologies, I considered Old Town Media an extension of our marketing team. OTM worked closely with us on rebranding and repositioning, multiple industry-first product launches, key industry events, and integrated demand generation campaigns while we grew our marketing team and acquired new companies. With the help of OTM, we grew our pipeline and bested industry benchmarks for Software as a Service (SaaS) sales and marketing efficiency metrics. We came to rely on OTM for tactical execution to augment our team but where they added the most value was in our rebranding strategy and market positioning efforts. OTM played an integral role in conducting research and deeply understanding our market dynamics, ideal customer profile, customer challenges, competitive landscape, products and innovation, key differentiators, vision, and mission. This was no easy feat with a highly complex ecosystem, multiple segments, wide variety of audiences, and a broad array of products. Armed with market insights, OTM helped us develop a compelling brand, an inspirational story reflecting our vision and strategy, a unique and defensible market position, and messaging that was relevant to our target audiences. I appreciated that the team was respectful and empathetic, intently curious, insightful with their observations and recommendations, and candid with their feedback. OTM set realistic expectations about deliverables/scope, level of effort, roles, timeline, and cost. The team was responsive, highly collaborative, and open to suggestions. OTM plugged our expertise and resource gaps which allowed us to break the compromise between doing good work and doing it quickly. On top of that, they were fun to work with. OTM was truly a partner of the business.

Eric Dengler

2023-01-11

Great team! Small company service. Big firm power and expertise.

zach fulton

2023-01-06

Simply put, OTM is a well oiled machine! Thanks for all you do

The Big Social Media Marketing No-No You’re Probably Doing

STOP JUST TRYING TO SELL stuff on social media.

What does that mean?

Growing a business
is hard and finding the
right partner matters.

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