3 Hard Truths About Social Media Marketing

No digital marketer likes to admit that there’s no hard-and-fast rule for success with online branding. While there are recipes you can use for success, there are also a few things you need to know before you launch yourself headfirst into a huge social media campaign.

What Contributes to Social Media Marketing Success?

All successful social media marketing—the kind that puts you in front of the right potential clients and that brings in business—starts with a solid foundation. You need an Internet presence, social media accounts, and a commitment to your public brand.

But is it all it’s cracked up to be?

Hard Truth #1: Social Media Marketing Isn’t Really “Free” 

According to Jayson Demers, founder and CEO of AudienceBloom, everyone’s always talking about how social media marketing is free.

It is free… at least financially.

“It takes hours of work to build out your profiles, and several hours a week to even maintain the most basically active presence. Add up those hours, and suddenly the amount of time that social media marketing does "cost" will become clear,” says Demers.

Hard Truth #2: Social Media Takes Time to Pay Off 

You know that social media can be an extremely powerful tool. As a Realtor®, you only need to reach one person who buys or sells a home with you for your initial time investment to pay off.

However, your initial investment is a long-term one. You have to cultivate followers, create and share information that your followers find valuable enough to share, and ensure that you’re staying true to your brand—the image you’re creating for yourself—the entire time.

Hard Truth #3: Most Social Media Platforms Restrict Your “Reach” 

Facebook, Twitter and most other social media platforms want you to pay for advertising… and to get you to do that, they restrict your reach.

If you’re posting on a page that has 500 followers, you can’t assume that all 500 of them are going to see everything you post. In fact, only a fraction of them will.

While it can be a great idea to advertise (pay for reach) on social media platforms, be cautious about taking it to the extreme.

None of this means you shouldn’t use social media marketing in your efforts. It does, however, mean that you need to be aware of its limitations so you’re not setting yourself up for failure.