Have you noticed it too? I sure have. Business owners are lazy and don’t want to put in the effort into marketing their business.

I don’t understand why.

It’s not easy to market your business compared to five years ago, even three years ago. Before, all we had to say to our customers was “Hey, we are the best! Come buy from us” and the customer would see that and they would buy from us.

It’s a little bit different now. Today we have actually have to go to the customer. We cannot just exclaim anymore that “We are the best!” and expect they will take our word for it.

There is so much noise going on in the world today, that not only are we competing with our local competitors, but we are also competing with global businesses as well.

Think of your website as the hub of your business. Your website tells the story of the product and services you offer BUT your social media is an extension of your website. Social media shows your product and services in more detail. Using a combination of words, links, pictures and videos, your social media should show you are an expert in your industry.

Social media is not about creating sales today or tomorrow, but the goal of social media is to develop relationships by posting today which will create sales six months from now… a year from now… two years from now.

You have to keep building the momentum with customers and always be growing your list. You need to create top of mind awareness.

Customers are not online to buy. When they are ready they will buy and your social media can help your customers think of your business. When those customers are ready to buy, we don’t want them to think of anyone but you! We don’t want them to think of your competition. We want them to remember your business and why they need to buy from you.

Small business owners don’t want to put in the work that is necessary to do their social media.

I don’t understand why.

Remember when you used the Yellow Pages to advertise? You would listen to your Yellow Pages rep and place your ad. Once your ad was placed, you would close up the book and that ad was static for one year. You couldn’t change your phone number. You couldn’t change your address if you moved. If you had a special or a promotion, you couldn’t post that. If anything changed at all, you had to wait a whole year for that ad to be replaced.

With social media, you can change these things right now, when it happens. You can adapt to current events. You can always keep changing your promotions and your sales. You can post about your products and services you offer. There is so much you can do with social media on a day-to-day basis.

When it came to the Yellow Pages you always listened to what your rep would tell you. And not even question it. The rep would say the phone book will be read by x number of homes, x number of businesses and they probably guaranteed you that your customers will find you in the Yellow Pages and that the book is great because customers will keep it around for one whole year.

Most businesses do not market to customers like that anymore. That way was super easy to get customers to buy from us. But did you really know how many people the Yellow Pages were reaching? Was it cost effective?

Social media is probably one of the best ways to reach your customers BUT business owners don’t want to put the work into it. Why?

We can target your social media directly to your customers. For example, if you use paid advertising you can target the geographic area, the age, the gender of your customer. With social media, your customers can comment and ask questions. You can’t do that with the Yellow Pages.

Now you really need to be your own original self! Stop being lazy and make your business unique and use social media. You have to become relevant and change with the times. We are not using the Yellow Pages anymore. Every year that book becomes thinner than the previous years.

I believe… Wait! I KNOW that YOU need to put in the effort with your social media marketing.

When you do put in that effort and post consistently, look at your analytics to see what you can tweak, what’s working and what’s not. I know that when the customer is ready to buy and you put in the work, they will buy from you as you will always be top of mind.

I see social media successes, big and small, every day and I want you to have your own social media success!