We’re not going to sugar coat it, establishing and maintaining a presence on social media requires an investment of both time and money. Many businesses owners turn to social media thinking, “how hard can it be,” but they quickly realize that the time commitment is greater than they expected. Thus, they throw in the towel and the metaphorical tumbleweeds start rolling across their social media pages. Let’s take a look at why this important digital marketing technique is so often deserted, the consequences businesses owners face when they give up, and what can be done to rectify the situation.

Why This Happens

There are two major reasons that businesses abandon their social media efforts:

• They had unclear expectations.

  As mentioned above, many business owners make their first foray into social media thinking that it’s going to be a cakewalk. Without proper research to identify the ideal content to post and the optimum posting times, small business owners find that social media is not giving them the return that they hoped for. Rather than adjusting their expectations and reproaching their social media, they give up hope. Even when they are able to identify a winning strategy, small business owners often find that the time commitment required to implement this strategy is simply too great to fit into their demanding schedules.

• They decide to manage their own social media after previously outsourcing it.

  Sometimes business owners will outsource their social media only to later decide that they would be better off managing it themselves. They then find that that it’s more difficult to maintain the momentum than they initially thought. This is not to say that all small business owners fail to maintain their own pages, but replicating the work of trained professionals can be extremely difficult and carving out the extra time in your busy schedule even more so.

What Are The Consequences?

These days, consumers look to social media as a source of validation. Even if you have a website, consumers expect your company to establish some sort of social media presence as well. But creating social media pages only to later abandon them annoys customers more than simply avoiding the practice entirely.

Think of social media like any other aspect of your business. By taking certain actions, i.e. posting specials regularly, offering exclusive deals, or providing any other type of information about your business regularly, you are creating expectations for your customers. If you then fail to meet these expectations, they may begin to look to your competitors to fill their needs, especially if those competitors are maintaining a consistent social media presence. Furthermore, the content that you have left on your social media pages, such as your hours and contact information, may not even be correct, sending consumers on a while goose chase that they aren’t willing to carry out.

What To Do If You’ve Abandoned Your Social Media

There are several steps and considerations business owners who have left their social media pages to collect dust must make.

• Review Your About Section:

  The absolute first thing you should do is check your about section and verify that all of the information posted is correct. It is one thing to simply discontinue posting on social media, but it’s another entirely to have false or misleading information misleading your customers. Ensure that all relevant contact information is posted, including your address if you have a brick and mortar location, and that the hours provided match up with your true business hours.

• Start Small:

  Commit to setting aside one hour per week to devote to social media. This may mean adding just one new post per week on each of your social media pages, but your customers are much more likely to consider you if they see you posted last week than if you hadn’t posted at all in the last year.

• Consider Outsourcing Your Social Media:

  Hiring an expert to manage your social media has two advantages. First, when you outsource your social media to a reputable company you ensure that they will post for you with the frequency that you agree upon. When you have an extra busy week with no time to spare to update Twitter or Facebook you can rest assured that it will be taken care of for you. Second, they have the knowledge and experience to identify what types of content are most likely to connect with your audience and go viral.

If you’ve abandoned your social media, don’t panic! Give us a call to schedule a free consultation. We’ll help you create the optimal social media strategy, whether you choose to manage it yourself or pass the day to day social media tasks on to us, allowing you to focus on what you do best.