Like many of the small business owners we talk to, here at Goodwin Creative we are busy running our business, spending time with our families and squeezing in personal time where we can. Also like others, we have little time for social media marketing and feel troubled that we’re not giving this seemingly excellent marketing tool enough of our time.

Meanwhile, we are bombarded daily with content online telling us social media is the only way to successfully market our businesses.

Truth is, social media has only been a real player in the marketing field for about ten years. Businesses, on the other hand, have been successfully marketing themselves for thousands of years. Of course, in the early years of Facebook business pages, marketing our companies through an easy to reach and potentially vast marketplace was very enticing and extremely easy. This is not true of Facebook today.

In the early days, people who ‘liked’ your facebook feed would see anything you posted there. Today, even if you have 1000 likes, when you post to your page only 4-5 of your fans will interact or even see it unless you spend money and boost your posts. You’ll notice a big ‘BOOST’ button on every post.

An article on Medium points out “Facebook’s organic (free) reach is down to a mere 1–6% of your fans now. Engagements have dropped by as much as 70%.” Facebook changes its algorithms often, and they’re hard to follow. This makes it incredibly hard for businesses, especially newer ones, to stay on top of their marketing game and reach their intended audiences unless they shill out tons of money.

An article on Buffer tells us, “Our findings show that (Facebook) engagement has dropped by more than 50% over the last 18 months.”

That’s pretty stark.

Sarthak Sharma, author of the article, states:

It’s the same story for all major social media platforms. In short, social media marketing is dead. Better invest your time and money somewhere else.

The idea of social media, however is fantastic, and here at Goodwin Creative, we don’t think it’s dead. Word-of-mouth has always been the best way to grow your businesses. Good reviews, testimonials and happy clients bring more business. And how wonderful that we can reach all of our clients and potential clients through online platforms where they hang out. However, where once there was one giant platform (Facebook) now there are multiple options and choices.

Is there any way a business owner can leverage the social media advertising medium successfully without it taking over all available time and energy? Or racking up huge ‘social media’ labour expenses? The answer is yes. Let’s take a look at what’s out there and see if there is something that fits your marketing style.

Consider Alternatives to Facebook

While millions of businesses, and users, have focused primarily on Facebook, there have actually been many different kinds of communities springing up around the net over the past few years, especially since Covid-19 pandemic shut the world down for months. Now it’s easier than ever to find communities that are specific to the services you offer.

If your business caters to the travel industry, you might want to reach out to potential clients on a travel blogging platform. Here’s an article reviewing the 14 top travel blog platforms. Carefully managing your TripAdvisor and Yelp accounts will help as well.

If your business focus is primarily B2B, platforms such as LinkedIn and Alignable are good options. You could post articles and how-tos, or you could answer questions in someone else’s post. Or leave comments. All of this activity will help your business become known.

Instagram, the new-ish kid on the block, is growing in popularity and we’re sure it’s because of its simplicity for users. If you’re in any kind of hospitality or creative industry, we highly recommend getting an Instagram account set up. Watch for a future article with Instagram tips!

Or course these are just a few! There’s also Twitter (typically political, financial or newsy), Pinterest (visual, typically creative), Etsy (for creative business owners), Youtube, Switch, and Discord (for live marketing), just to name a few.

How Does a Business Choose?

Check your own behaviour.

When you have a free moment at work, what do you typically do with that time? If you check your emails, and read newsletters and other subscriptions, perhaps choosing a ‘newsletter’ type marketing strategy would be good. If you like to scroll through Instagram, maybe while you’re there you can comment on some of the posts of your clients and competitors as part of an Instagram marketing strategy. If you sit back and read the local newspaper or a magazine, perhaps print advertising is more your style. 

When you choose a strategy that suits your personality and culture, you’re more likely to be successful with it. You’ll spend time there because you enjoy spending time there.

Have a great website.

Social media platforms like Facebook make millions of dollars by using your content, and the content of all their users. In exchange they ask you to pay. This is the reverse of how things should be isn’t it? When you have your own website, you will be able to benefit from your own content. As well, you are in control of what you show, how it looks, and who you target. You own and control the functions, the photos and services you provide.

Be sure your market knows about your website & company.

• Good print material with your website noted

• Person to person networking

• Advertise in local print media

• Sponsor local events or causes

• Join local business groups such as a Chamber of Commerce or Business Association

• Make sure your website is listed on all emails

• Use Social Media to direct people to your website

The take-away here is that yes, there was a time when we thought Facebook could make or break a company’s marketing. I’m guilty myself of telling clients, if you’re not on Facebook, you’re gonna miss the boat. But I take it all back now.

Facebook has recently announced a complete make-over wherein they will be emphasizing Groups, Events and Stories. This is good. I was pretty much only using Facebook for my groups and events anyhow. Recent changes to their Business Pages have made navigating even more difficult for business owners.

But Definitely, Have a Facebook Business Page

Who still needs Facebook?

All businesses should set up a Business Page and be sure it has information about who you are and what you offer as well as your website address. A few cool images. Some ‘culture-type’ posts. And that’s all you really need. If someone uses the Facebook search bar, they’ll find your business and click on the web address and go directly to your website. Once in a while, you could go in and post an update just so it’s clear you’re still in business. For most businesses, once set up, your Facebook marketing time could be as little as 30 minutes a month.

Facebook can also be a good way for future clients to communicate via messenger. I often will search a business on Facebook because I have the ability to send them a message.

If your business is in the entertainment industry, Facebook is still one of the primary sources of Event information. So be sure you’re there. It’s likely you spend a lot of your time there anyhow.

A Facebook business page is free. You can be free too - of all that guilt over not posting enough to social media, not having enough social media accounts, not following or liking enough posts.

The Bottom Line

Choose marketing options that suit your personal style and the rest will come easily and without stress.