Dear Readers,

Remember the good old days when you could post a message on your social media page and reach all your “friends” or “followers”? That has basically come to an end. Social media platforms like Facebook and others have come to realize that they have amassed such an extraordinary number of users that they can actually control what you say and to whom. This has political and business ramifications. On the political end, they control (or have the ability to control) how far messages and ideas spread around the world in favor or against their own interests and agendas. On the business end, they have turned the once free networking service into a “pay to play” operation.

If you’ve ever wondered how Facebook and other social media platforms make money, the answer is simple: advertising. The more people that these platforms have access to, the more money they make from businesses wanting to sell those people their products. This means that growing an organic audience is becoming more difficult by the minute. Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Pinterest want you to pay them money to reach your own contacts. You can build your page to 10,000 followers but Facebook may show your posts to only a few hundred. Facebook intentionally restricts how many people your page can reach  organically. They want you to click that boost button, and they want you to do it as often as possible. In fact, on average, brands only reach 6% of their fans without using paid advertisements. In other words, not only is it difficult to reach your ideal audience, but it’s almost impossible to get them to engage. Your only option is to run paid advertisements.

When over 60% of Americans have  Facebook accounts and more than 75% of them check their accounts multiple times per day, it has become evident that businesses should use these platforms to promote and sell their products or services.

Despite all of the above, social media is remarkable at finding and targeting your audience.Even though you now have to “pay to play,” as long as you use your shekels wisely, you can use social media to advertise your products and grow your business. Furthermore, the advertising rates are still significantly underrated. This means that you better put as much as you can into building your company and your brand now before the price reaches its natural peak based on demand.

The four things you want to focus on are: understanding your advertising goals, choosing the right social media platform, targeting custom and lookalike audiences, and running retargeting ads. In order to accomplish your desired results and take your business to the next level you can take the time and effort to learn the skills of the new trade or hire the services of a reputable company to do it for you. Either way, get started now while the barriers of entry are still low.

Then, and only then, will you get the best bang for your buck in the amazing opportunity that social media offers.     

   

Wishing you all a Chag Kasher v’Sameach,

Ariel Topf

ariel@biznessmag.com