"As important as it is to watch your competitors, it is more important to obsess on your customers. Customers, not competitors, determine who wins the war.

Most markets are plagued by too many fishermen going after too few fish. The best fishermen understand the fish better than their competitors do."

​                                                                                                                                          - Philip Kotler

At Black Cow Media, we often meet up with potential clients looking for help with with social media who think that because they have been posting for the past 2 months once a week on Facebook and once or twice a day on Twitter or Instagram, they should be seeing an immediate uptick in sales.
 
First of all, social media is not a magical “silver bullet” solution for your sales growth. We always caution potential clients that social media is more about overall brand building and positioning than it is about driving sales. Of course, occasionally, our clients do receive an order based upon a post of a particular Tweet, but that’s pretty unusual. More often, in our opinion, social media is a long-term marketing process that helps build an industry awareness of who your brand is, its value proposition, and how it can benefit its target customers.
 
Secondly, frequency matters. In today’s busy, frenetic business world, if your company is only posting occasionally, you must know it’s going to be difficult to gain the attention of your target audience. Strong brands are distinctive and memorable for their distinction. Achieving this is difficult without a high degree of frequency. There’s lots of marketing “noise” out there and your target is being inundated brand messages by your competitors and other, more general, brand messages. Make sure your social media messaging has the right degree of frequency.
 
A company’s frustration with social media for not producing a relatively immediate uptick in sales (or leads) growth usually leads them to throw up their hands and direct their attention back to what they consider “more proven” methods of growing sales. Often, this means deeper discounts and more aggressive sales tactics – with any sales gained being at lower gross margin levels.  But, more importantly, with each of these types of moves your brand becomes slightly more of a “price-driven” brand versus a “value-driven” brand.
 
Remember, it is brands who provide real value to their targeted audience who are both successful and strong.
 
Social media is now a mainstream marketing channel that must be considered by any company trying to get its long-term brand message and value proposition out to its target customers. And, like any solid marketing effort, social media takes  time and it takes commitment.  And, no, it's not magic.

"Don't be so obsessed with stopping people from doing things wrong that you are blind to the moments when they do things right. Be on the lookout for people doing a good job."

"It's a question of perspective and attitude. We often see what we choose to see."

​“Any knowledge of culture is impossible now without an understanding of the implications of “brand.” We have entered a day and an age where brand is an extension of human facility, whether it is psychic or psychological.”
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                                                                                                          Debbie Millman
                                                                                                          Brand Bible

So.....give them what they want.  

​Or your competitor will.

"You can be rich, you can be powerful, and you can be famous, you won't amount to much of anything until you change the world."
                                                                     Guy Kawasaki
                                                                     Selling The Dream

So, what are all the things you are doing to make potential customers aware of your brand?

Customers are looking for overall better buying experiences, not cheaper prices.