If you’re a small company or a start-up then you probably feel obliged to set up various social media accounts, Facebook Twitter, Instagram and so on. It may be because everyone else is doing it or because social media “experts” say so.

1. Beware of Shiny Social Media
Objects Bearing Gifts!
By Neil Patel
@neilp666
www.neilpatel.co

2. Introduction
If you’re a small company or a start-up then you probably
feel obliged to set up various social media accounts,
Facebook Twitter, Instagram and so on. It may be because
everyone else is doing it or because social media “experts”
say so.
I suggest to you that having a presence on too many of the
main social media platforms could be a mistake in the long
term, because it could distract you from building your
business.

3. Are you building a business or a social
media strategy
Many companies see social media as a one-size fits all
strategy. I have worked with many companies who actively
promote themselves across multiple social media
platforms. This has resulted in plenty of content and plenty
of engagement but no revenue, the bottom line of any
business!
Believe it or not there are many profitable companies out
there who don’t have social media accounts!

4. “The Experts”
Many social media experts regularly give examples of how
big brand companies absolutely nailed it on social media,
the Coca Colas or the Dells of this world. Fair enough, but
the big brands are completely different to your business.
Why?
Because their audiences, reputation and relationships are
completely different to yours and most have been built over
many years already.

5. Google +
Take a look at Google+. This was supposed to the social
network for businesses when it first launched in 2011 amid
much hoopla!
There were high hopes within the online community that it
would replace Facebook and compete with Twitter. It never
took off though and it seems they have stopped updating or
coming up with new features.

6. Google + cont..
I know many companies who started on Google + and put a lot of effort (i.e time
= money) into it, then left or just stopped updating their company information
because it simply wasn’t relevant to them and importantly, it wasn’t relevant to
their customers.
According to Alexia Tsotsis and Matthew Panzarino of “TechCrunch”
“There were hopes it might displace Facebook as the social network of choice.
It ended up more like a social network of last resort”

7. Google + Cont..
In June this year, Google announced they were
removing Google authorship due to the low
levels of adoption.
I would not be surprised if Google + be killed off
in the near future

8. Blogging generates more traffic..Fact!
If you want to create long term relationships
with your customers then I suggest you stick to
blogging.
Don’t take my word for it. Studies show that
having a blog and using the correct keywords
brings in more traffic.

9. According to Hubspot
· 57% of companies with a blog have acquired a customer
from their blog.
· Companies that blog get 55% more web traffic and 70%
more leads than those that don’t.
· B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads per
month than those that do not.
· Businesses that blog at least 20 times per month
generate 5X more traffic and 4X more leads than those that
only blog a few times per month.

10. Final Thoughts
We now have a marketplace full of shiny marketing objects
such as Instagram, Snapchat, Vine etc and they promise
much. Be honest though, is this where your customers are?
If not, you’ll be wasting your time, your energy and your
money on these platforms.
What I suggest is that you experiment with different
platforms and see for yourself what works and what
doesn’t, but don’t spread yourself too thin.

11. The golden rule of
marketing is to go where
your customers go!
Thanks for watching
Lets connect
@neilp666