So you are a self proclaimed social media expert, guru, community manager, analyst or anything with the word social media in front of it. You have been doing social media for at least a year. You are doing all the right things in regard to the tools of social media. You have followers. You have likes. However, nobody talks to you about business, reads your blog and your phone is definitely not ringing with leads wanting to buy from you.
Social media is more than tools. Your ability to understand the ecosystem and the art of conversation will determine the results. The tools are a medium. It's how you use the medium that matters most.
Check out these 44 tips to help you Get Real in identifying if your social media strategy could use some work. Some are geared for the social media “guru” offering services to clients others are for the traditional community manager or small business owner trying to make a go at it.
Note: This post is intended to be fun. I am not bashing anybody and love to train and help newbies who want to do it right. Purpose of this post is to make you laugh and maybe do a double click on if your social media strategy is really working for you. If not, might want to get some help.
44 Key Indicators Your Social Media Strategy Could Use an Overhaul
1. ROI, what is that again?
2. You avoid all client discussions who want to discuss ROI at all costs!
3. You avoid taking on new clients who know what ROI is.
4. You can't remember the last time you got a lead online.
5. 95% of your leads are still coming from the chamber and local meetup groups.
7. Retainer client, what's that?
8. You can't understand why those other agencies are wasting time on plans and objectives? Why aren't they tweeting and Facebooking for their clients?
9. You don't understand why they charge more than $99/mo as it's just tweets and tweets are free!
10. Ramen noodles with shrimp is a gourmet meal.
11. You can't understand why you have a 65 klout score but no customers. Influence will payoff, right?
12. None of your clients have leads from online either.
13. You have an opt-in form and pay $19.99/mo to your email service provider but have never taken the time to send an email to your list.
14. Sales conversion funnel, what's that again?
15.The last time you had a deal with a positive margin was well, never.
16. You have resorted to free work to stay busy.
17. You have 500 likes on your Facebook business page but don't know any of them because they won't talk to you.
18. You figure your Facebook fans are “lame” since they won't talk.
19. You have a blog but only write in it quarterly. Even when you did you just copied someone else's work and added a link hoping nobody would notice and think it was yours.
20. You have resorted to asking your son & his best friend to retweet your content.
21. You have bribed your mom grandma, and great aunt Martha to login to Facebook once a week and like everything on your Facebook page
22. You could tweet with your eyes closed and sing Karaoke at the same time but can't pay your rent.
23. 95% of your clients are either related to you or could fall in the category of BFF (best friend forever).
24. A lead with a budget? What's that?
25. If you build client websites none of then have a sales conversion funnel either.
26. Your website knows how to tweet and you thought that would be enough.
27. You didn't know you had to talk to your fans after the like! Why won't they just buy something?
28. You didn't realize it matters that you follow quality people on twitter and can't understand why people keep sending you DMs with naughty photos.
29. Your top achievement so far has been becoming the mayor of Merchant Circle and winning the big acre lot on Farmville.
30. You have 2k followers but it's still like pulling teeth to get a retweet.
31. You keep hearing people talk about content. You wish you had some!
32. You have nightmares about your clients asking to see your Google analytics reports.
33. You want to cry every time you pull a compete.com report and compare your web traffic to competitors as your closest has quadrupled your traffic.
34. A score of 1,000,000 is good on Alexa, right? Higher the better?
35. You can't understand why all those bloggers have the opt-in forms on their front page. What a waste of space.
36. A look thru your tweet stream and you realize none of the tweets with value are anything you have created or can do.
37. You are still happy your Klout score is a 65, it's got to mean something!?
38. You are seriously considering getting a real job since your unemployment is running out.
39. You haven't changed or updated your web content in a year. It's not needed as it must be working with all those followers you have.
40. Everyone at the local Chamber of Commerce and networking meetings loves your title of “guru” on your biz card.
41. You still think it's awesome that the “guru” title gets you so many free lunches with “wannabe clients”. Too bad they can't afford to pay for your services.
42. You don't understand why so many people spend money on their brand. Who cares if all the colors look the same. Social media is all about conversation anyway.
43. You figure it's okay you have no ROI, leads or sales funnel as nobody in your Chamber and other networking groups do either.
44. ROI – what is that again? Thinking it might be time to figure out if it could help your business and life.
If you can relate to a good majority of the above key indicators it is probably time you take a vacation. When you get back schedule some time to develop a business plan with goals and objectives. Then develop an integrated marketing and social media plan that will support your business goals and objectives. Random acts of social media is not going to land you the gigs with margin, life balance and a positive ROI. Invest in yourself and your business. Obtain some social media training via a mentor or organization you can trust. Don't give up. You know the tools, now you just need to learn the art of social media. Focus on the people and the value you can offer them. Social media is a medium for you to communicate, inspire and foster relationships.
#GetRealChat: I host a #GetRealChat every Tuesday night with @SteveOlenski at 9 pm et. We take down the black curtains and get real with the power of social relationships in both life and business.