Social holds the reputation of being an inexpensive form of social marketing. I have celebrated this in the past, yet it comes with a big “but” (and I cannot lie).

The caveat is, unless you are building relationships and regularly posting great content, you are missing the full potential of your ad spend.

Imagine you are scrolling through your Facebook newsfeed. After a few cat memes, gym selfies and food posts you come across an ad. It piques your interest but you aren’t convinced to make a purchase, so you click through to the page.

Scenario 1:

You visit their page. It is full of promotional posts, rarely updated and tells you nothing more about the company than the ad did. What would you do? You wouldn’t be any more motivated to buy, probably less likely.

Hide your eyes & walk away, I don’t blame you.

Scenario 2:

You click to their Facebook page and it is lively! It has photos of happy customers, you learn something cool about the product, and the admins are having conversations with their fans.

In scenario 2 the brand has given you something to resonate with. You got to know them and they have put in the work to show you they are a company worth spending your hard earned cash with!

You may not whip out your credit card on the spot, but which scenario would leave you with a positive impression of the brand?

Scenario 1 happens when you come to social with a pay-per-click mentality.

Social marketing is not about cookies, clicks and reach. Successful social is about people and the relationships you build with them.

Treating social like cheap pay-per-click is a short term fix to a long term problem. Yes it is more work. However, you develop meaningful relationships with current and future customers that will pay off.

Help people understand you, your brand, and how you add value to their life. It is worth the effort!