084 - Social Media Mythbusters For Business

Marisa Huston  0:03  
Welcome to Episode 84 on the Live Blissed Out podcast. Did you know that Facebook had 1.84 billion daily active users in December 2020 and the average person spends around two and a half hours per day on all social media platforms? Hello, action taker. Welcome to Live Blissed Out. A podcast where I have inspiration on informational conversations with business owners and subject matter experts to help you get the scoop on a variety of topics. Tired of hesitating or making decisions without having the big picture? Wanna be in the know? Then this is the place to go. I'm your host Marisa Huston. Helping you achieve bliss through awareness and action. So let's get to it. Joining us is Tina Sorensen, founder of TRuSolutions. As an online marketing consultant, she has always been drawn to the hybrid mix of art and science that lies at the heart of her industry. Tina combines strategic thinking with cold hard data to help her clients cut through the noise and pressure of marketing their business online. As she started in the digital marketing industry, 7 years ago, she experienced firsthand how confusing and intimidating the online world can be to small business owners. Her mission immediately became to help them navigate the maze. To learn more visit www.truesolutionsco.com. The information opinions and recommendations presented in this podcast are for general information only. And any reliance on the information provided in this podcast is done at your own risk. This podcast should not be considered professional advice. Tina, welcome to the show. 

Tina Sorensen  1:43  
Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. 

Marisa Huston  1:46  
You know, social media is a topic that we hear about a lot everywhere. And particularly now because people I think are using it more than ever. And in a business environment, it's so essential to have social media as a tool that you need to utilize on an ongoing basis. But there's so much noise. And everybody's trying to get attention, putting content left and right. But there are differences between the types of content that is being shared. Some are just Hey, look at me, I just wanted to say hi, and I'm thinking of you. And then there are others who really focus on information and trying to give people as much value as possible. I think the perfect spot is somewhere in between where you have that authenticity that you are providing to your community so they are in touch with you and they feel connected. But at the same time, we also have to take into account that people have limited time, and we want to give them as much information that they can use as possible. What exactly are those elements people think about when they think about social media versus what you know, as a social media expert, in terms of what the reality is? 

Tina Sorensen  2:59  
Absolutely. And I think you really hit it on the head. Is that in the last year, especially, time being on social media really increased. And so businesses can have a lot more exposure. And just being on social media is free. So for small business owners, it really is a must have. It's also something that Google looks at, and can actually put your social media platforms in some really good searches. So it's very important for business owners to understand what social media can do for them, and what they probably shouldn't expect it to do. I think that most business owners really want it to produce them leads. To just be this lead generating machine. And what I have found for small business owners and for small businesses, that really isn't the case. It does take a lot of time and consistency to get a following. And a lot of times that following is people that already are aware of them from some angle. And then it's really just cultivating those. So it's already leads there and that's your audience. And then you can really cultivate them into being a customer or a client moving forward. And it works really well for that. 

Marisa Huston  4:21  
When we're talking about producing leads, I think the thing is, there is the side of awareness where if you're out there and you're connecting with people in some way, then they know you're there. And that is top of mind. So we're talking about Top of Mind. Remembering that that is the person that they probably would need to call if they ever need their services, but they won't just pick up the phone and call unless they trust that individual. So just because you're out there, connecting with them doesn't mean you've built a relationship. And I think that's where the gap is, don't you?

Tina Sorensen  4:54  
Exactly. It's the same adage if you're going to a networking meeting or you're going to meet people in person. It's that know, like and trust. And once you've established that, then they're more likely to click or to find out more or to explore that on their own terms. But without that it's pretty much dead in the water. 

Marisa Huston  5:16  
Yeah and thank goodness, there are people like you who are experts and know what's going on. Because it's hard to keep up with all these trends in terms of what changes are happening in social media. I mean, you think back to 10 years ago, even, it was a completely different situation in terms of how it functioned. And nowadays, I feel like a lot of posts don't even get seen. And people don't really know why or how that works. And so what happens is they think that, hey, I'm just going to post a million times and everybody's going to know and respond. And that's not generally the case, right?

Tina Sorensen  5:51  
You're exactly right. Actually, with Facebook business pages, about 2.5% of the followers of that page will actually see a post. So even if you have this great community, and they're following your business page, and you're posting a lot, a very small percentage will see that come up in their feed.

Marisa Huston  6:16  
That's crazy. And you think that that would not be the case, because it's a business page. Would you say, then, Tina, that the difference really is that you get more exposure, if you start a group? 

Tina Sorensen  6:29  
Yes. And Facebook has put a lot more emphasis on groups, and a community where you can have conversations. And that's where people are getting a lot of information. That's where they're asking for recommendations. It's truly a community. And that's what people want to be a part of. Usually, they go to Facebook to either be entertained, or for them to search, or to ask questions, or to be educated. The days of being just fed that information and people being open to it. You know, it's the same thing, if you were to go to a networking meeting, and somebody is giving you a really strong sales pitch, it doesn't feel great. It does not feel very genuine. You want to get to know somebody and understand what they do, ask questions, and then you take the steps to maybe do business with them. And for businesses, it's going to be people that really want to do business with them. It's not somebody who's going to just be the type of customer or client that's just trying to get information or maybe it's going to be questioning everything that you're doing and your strategies and your tactics. But somebody that's like, you know what, I already have this trust factor with them and now I really, truly want to do business with them. 

Marisa Huston  7:49  
There are people that offer the same services, but you just tend to gravitate to one versus the other, because maybe they have personalities that are similar to yours, or values that you support. And you want to do business with them more than the other, even though they're both equally knowledgeable. So it's that community thing that really gets people making those decisions that are potentially going to bring you the kind of customers you want to serve. I think, though that there might be a little bit of confusion, at least I hear it a lot. Why would a business decide to create a private group versus a public one? 

Tina Sorensen  8:26  
Well, I think the private groups are really good for specific situations or specific events. I think it can be a really great place for people to feel secure, that there won't be somebody trolling and bringing down comments. So if you do have a private group where maybe it's more of like a mastermind, where no question is a stupid question. And then you really don't have other people chiming in. And you can keep that a little bit more controlled, and help people feel safer within that private group. Whereas a public group, they're still very valuable. And you can do a lot of things with them. But you are going to have a lot more people more than likely, and people might not be willing to share as much information. 

Marisa Huston  9:18  
And the other thing is, too, if you're the person that created the group, you tend to have a better understanding of the people in it. As opposed to if it were public, anybody would just join and you've never met them before. Whereas if they're private, you have more control. You can say, Hey, is there a prerequisite here? Maybe they have to meet me first before I invite them to the group or whatever you want to set up. You have more control in terms of really building those deeper relationships because it's not as huge and the people there are generally people you somehow have heard of or connected with in some way.

Tina Sorensen  9:52  
Yes. And Facebook has done such a great job of putting those tools into play for private groups where either they have to fill out information and you manually have to let them in so that you can create a little micro community within Facebook that is really specific and targeted to what you're trying to accomplish. 

Marisa Huston  10:14  
That is such a good point. People think that they post a lot, then they're going to get more exposure. So what's your take on that? Because I see pros and cons to posting. And I think that it has to be a little more intentional. So I'd like to know what you think when it comes to how often should we be posting and what are good posts? How do we engage people? 

Tina Sorensen  10:36  
That is a great word, intention. And I think with any of your marketing endeavors, intention is something that you really have to be cognizant of, and really think through. It's the same thing for social media. It used to be the case, and this is how the algorithm worked, is the more that you posted, the more the algorithm would favor your posts. And that's just not true any longer. And it's really more about engagement. And so it has switched to being more quality, over quantity. So if you can have a great post, that people are engaging and commenting and liking and sharing that is worth more than five posts that nobody cares about. 

Marisa Huston  11:26  
And I think there's also confusion when it comes to engagement. Because there's the what I like to call fluff engagement, which is...what's your favorite ice cream? or where's the last place you traveled? Let's say your business site. It has nothing to do with that. It's really just about getting to know your community more so that you can understand what they like what they don't like and you can build more of a personal relationship with them, which has its place. But doing too much of that too can be a problem. So then there's the other kind, which is more, how do you feel about this and how it applies to your business? Now you're asking deeper, more direct questions that relate to the community that would be more beneficial for everyone? Because the answers are probably going to be answers to things that other people are challenged with.

Tina Sorensen  12:15  
Yes, and it's going to show your value. It's going to show how you can bring people value. And it's a great way to showcase that. And when it comes to conversions, and to convert into customers or clients for you, that's going to be the way to do it. The fluff pieces aren't going to get you that conversion whatsoever.

Marisa Huston  12:38  
And how do you drive people in? For example, I get invited to groups all the time. And it can be really overwhelming. Because if you just say yes to every single group, you'll be in 1000s of groups at this point. So of course, we're trying to be selective, but at the same time, there's plenty of room for people. Because let's say you have a hobby. Let's say you like cars. Where you can be in 50 car groups, and each one has its own area of expertise and you learn something different from each one. But how do we get people to want to be a part of that group so that they don't feel like oh, I'm getting invited to another group so they can sell to me, so they can invite me to a paid workshop or invite me to something that's going to benefit them rather than benefit me and allow me to meet interesting people and learn about things that are going to help push me forward with my business?

Tina Sorensen  13:28  
And I think you have to be really genuine and set expectations and be very clear as to what the purpose of the group is. And then you're going to get people in line with that purpose. And it's going to make a very successful group. You have to be really intentional and make sure that that happens. And sometimes it's not as much of a numbers game. It's not as many people as you can possibly get into your group. It's more like how can I align with the best possible people in this group so everybody's getting value and it's just a real, dynamic group.

Marisa Huston  14:01  
Imagine if you had 1000 paying customers. Because we're always thinking in terms of 50,000, 100,000. Oh, my goodness, I need a million people to follow me. But if you just break it down into I have 1000 paying customers, and they're each averaging $10. That can add up pretty quickly, can it? Absolutely. And that's way better than 50,000 or 100,000, where you only have 100 paying customers. So it's really relative to the community that you're building and really the effort that you put in has to be in terms of that mindset where it's really about trying to constantly make them feel like they are getting something worthwhile from any interaction with your community.

Tina Sorensen  14:46  
Exactly. And if you had 100 raving fans that are going out and being your best advocates and sharing your information with their groups of people that are probably like minded and with referring your business, that's going to be way more valuable. That's like having a whole sales team outside of yourself that is going out and promoting you and you don't have to pay them, and or train them or do any of the HR. So that can actually be way more valuable than, like you were saying, having 50,000 people following you, but they're not really in it.

Marisa Huston  15:22  
This is a mindset shift for many of us business owners. We're looking at the way social media used to be, and it's changed a lot. Marketing in itself used to be push marketing. You're just pushing content out there, buy from me, here's why I'm great. And now it's really about pull marketing, which is your magnetic.   You're trying to bring people to you, and they want to gravitate towards you because they like your message. They like how you handle things. And the way to make that happen is to always be giving. There has to be this element of what's in it for them. And so you have to create situations where it's not about you, it's not about Oh, come to my workshop, because you're going to learn this thing from me, but more like how can you involve and engage them in such a way that they're gonna want to be a part of it. They get excited about it and want to tell other people? Are there any tips that you have related to that for a host, let's say of a group. To be able to entice that kind of engagement from the community where the community doesn't feel like it's always about them and their workshops and their books or any other thing that they typically want to push out there. 

Tina Sorensen  16:33  
I think asking deeper questions. Having an element of kind of a mastermind can be very valuable. And people can learn from other people, even if you're shown as the expert in the area. And of course, you want to make sure that they understand what you do and what value you can bring to them to open it up. And to have other people give examples or give their expertise on a subject can be very valuable. And it doesn't feel like selling it just feels like another point of value added. It always is great too when somebody can offer their expertise, and they can offer something to the group. And that's just I think human nature. Is if I feel like I can contribute to a group, I'm going to feel more valued and I'm going to feel like I've been able to help even the facilitator of the group. So if you can open that up, and you can really get people involved and bring in that community feel, that's when you're really going to see a transformation within that group or even just your social media. You're going to see that synergy. And it's exciting to for a business owner to see that happen and understand how they're helping people not just selling to people.

ACE Your Virtual Business  17:55  
Are you a GenX'er or who has always wanted to start a podcast or YouTube channel? ACE Your Virtual Business is a business focused community designed, especially for brilliant minds over 40 and is centered upon action community and effectiveness. Be the first to sign up to get launch announcements and exclusive offers when you join the e-list and Ace community To learn more visit www.aceyourvirtualbusiness.podia.com. 

Marisa Huston  18:20  
Yeah, and maybe just even spotlighting people and being able to give them a voice with your community is wonderful, because then everybody's benefiting from it. They're getting the exposure, the people in the group are learning something that they didn't learn before and you're giving back. So, I'm always a big advocate of how can you create scenarios where there is no downside. Like everything is positive for everyone involved. 

Tina Sorensen  18:48  
I really like that a win win situation. 

Marisa Huston  18:52  
And it's easier said than done. Let's be honest. That's why there are people like you who take it over. Because there's so many businesses that don't want anything to do with it. It's too much work. There's no easy way to achieve a goal. You have to put so much effort and energy into anything you do. And then the question becomes, can you manage it? Are you willing to manage it? Or do you need help. And that's really where you have to decide whether or not this is something you want to develop and get to know a little more about versus if you just want to hand it over to somebody else. And I know that there are people who volunteer to manage their groups for them and things like that, because they just love them so much and they want to be part of the community and they volunteer and say, Hey, I'll be a moderator in your group. There's just so many elements like in anything else and so you have to decide whether you want to learn everything and apply it or if you want to get somebody like you to help.

Tina Sorensen  19:44  
Absolutely. And I think too it's really important for business owners to understand it well enough that they can make really good choices moving forward as to how they do want to manage it. Social media is here to say. It's not going away. And to understand the basics and even just get a really quick idea of maybe what's changed in the last year can then really empower you to say, Okay, now that I understand what it can do for me and how it's working, okay, I do have time for that, or I do enjoy that piece of it, or identify maybe somebody already in your organization or somebody that you know, that you can delegate to. Or finding a really great firm or agency that can then just take it and run with it. Every business is going to be a little different, every industry is going to be a little different. But I do think that one of the best things that you can do is at least get a basic understanding of all of your analytics and go in and see what trends or gaps. If you can get a good two to three months worth of information and data as to how things have been going for you on all your social media platforms. And even on Google Analytics and your Google My Business Page, then you can really determine a great strategy and game plan moving forward, even if you don't know all the in's and out's. 

Marisa Huston  21:11  
And I think the big mistake that many people do is they focus on driving traffic to their website or to their video and then what? After they've been able to look at their analytics, and it says all they're getting 50,000 hits, but they haven't received a single phone call. That means there's something missing in that process. But how do you know if you don't look at the numbers and try to figure out what activity is happening?

Tina Sorensen  21:36  
Yes, and that is a great metric to look at, conversion rate. With all my clients, I love to be able to just sit down and say, here's what we're seeing and here's maybe some gaps, or Oh, there's a little crack there. Let's get that fixed. Because without that being fixed, we could go and get 100,000 followers tomorrow but if they're not converting, then it's a real waste of time.

Marisa Huston  21:59  
There are a lot of people who know what analytics are, but they have never checked it. Where do we go to get the basic information right now? 

Tina Sorensen  22:08  
I would recommend that you make a list of your platforms and put them in priority order of how much time you spend on them. And then go in and each one has insights or data that you can go in and see what's happening in the last month. And then you can get as granular as who was clicking and engaging on specific posts. And if you can create that, then you're going to be able to see some of those trends and identify some of those gaps. And usually, once you start to get the hang of it, and you start to be able to interpret that data and what it means to your business, it can be really exciting. And that's usually when we bridge that chasm of saying I don't want to see my analytics. It's usually because you don't really understand them or what it really means to your business. So if we can have 30 minutes to talk about that, I see a lot of people getting excited about it, getting kind of a renewed passion. And usually they get a lot of great ideas about how to move forward with their social media and just with different platforms. 

Marisa Huston  23:19  
Analytics don't mean anything if all you're looking at is graphs, and you don't know how to interpret them. And that's why it's essential to talk to somebody who gets it. Who can say, Okay, this information is telling us this, and this is what we need to be thinking about versus looking at all these graphs and numbers and going, I don't know how that applies to my business. I think that's a good place to start. Right?

Tina Sorensen  23:40  
I think it's the best place to start. I'm a little bit of a data nerd. And so I do like to go in and research and analyze and see how it's working. And then see it month over month and year over year and understanding seasonality. And you have to come to that beginning point. Okay, here's what I know now and we're going to see how this translates moving into the future year over year and being able to build upon it. And that's really the goal. Is to take what you're doing now and to make it better and to build on it and keep it consistent and keep it moving. So it can be a really well oiled machine and not take up a ton of time and not something that you have to just throw a whole bunch of money at to be efficient and working for you. And usually that's when it becomes a little more enjoyable.

Marisa Huston  24:33  
You have to know where you are in order to know where you need to go. For our listeners listening to us right now. What is one thing you know that you wish they knew that they likely don't and it might be completely impactful in terms of how they view social media for their business going forward? 

Tina Sorensen  24:52  
I think one of the biggest things that they can understand is that in 2020, things changed dramatically. People increased the amount of time they were on social media to about 2.5 hours per day. So when I hear somebody say that their customers or their clients really aren't on social media, I would probably challenge that and say they are, they just haven't found you yet. And that's what we need to figure out pretty quickly to make sure that you do have a strategy. The second piece that I think is really important, and I don't think a lot of people understand is that Facebook business pages are looked at by Google to validate your business. So your information needs to be very consistent. And it has to be the exact same information as what you have in other places for Google to recognize that. And so there's a lot more to it than just trying to get people to look at it, or actually trying to get bots to look at it as well. So there's a little more to it than just, Hey, I'm going to put out a great happy post that everybody's gonna like.

Marisa Huston  26:02  
 There was one thing I heard recently, and I wanted to validate that with you. Is it true that if you put out a post, and you insert a link that gets out of the social media platform, so let's just say it was Facebook, and I put in an external link that that is not favored. And so oftentimes, people don't even see it, because that link is essentially driving people outside of Facebook and the entire goal is to keep them in. 

Tina Sorensen  26:29  
That is correct. And the Facebook algorithm is constantly changing. In fact, I even heard somebody say that it's probably about 10 times a day that they change their algorithm with just little tweaks. And, of course, they want their platform to be sticky. Once you get in it, you can't get out easily. And if a post is trying to take people to another site or another platform, it's okay. But it isn't as favored as if you were maybe even trying to link to maybe an event on Facebook. They really liked that. That will get shown very well. It's not by mistake that people were on Facebook, 2.5 hours per day, on average. It's designed to keep people there and make it their go to place for information to connect with other people, with businesses is really what they're trying to do. I do know that if you have a great post that is very spot on, and it has really good information and people are loving it, and it does link maybe to your website so that they can go and dig in a little bit further, it won't affect the algorithm that much. Again, it goes back to if people are liking your posts and engaging in it, Facebook is going to show it to more and more people regardless of what your message is or where you're trying to take people. As long as it's not spammy, or you're not going against their code of conduct, it's still going to be a better post than something that keeps them in the platform but it's not resonating with anybody. 

Marisa Huston  28:04  
So the key takeaways I'm getting from what you shared for our action takers that are listening are that, this isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. It's a long term thing that you have to invest in. And the more you get people to interact with you and the more you focus on building a community, the more successful you'll be.

Tina Sorensen  28:26  
Exactly. It takes time and consistency. There is not really a shortcut. You have to be very authentic and genuine and providing a lot of value.

Marisa Huston  28:37  
Yeah, and I think we're so used to quick ROI. Social media doesn't work that way. In fact, oftentimes people can't even connect their clients to social media but if they dig deep enough, they'll realize that that person heard about them because of a friend on social media that connected them. And there's some sort of relevance in there, but they're not tracking that, so they don't really see the correlation. But social media is in the mix somewhere. And it's so necessary to incorporate it to have any sort of business success. 

Tina Sorensen  29:09  
Yes, absolutely. It's interesting, because before the marketing rule of thumb was that somebody would need to see a logo or a brand 7 times before they would recognize it. And that has increased to 13 times in the last couple of years. So even if they're not taking action on Facebook, or LinkedIn or Instagram, but they're seeing your brand, that's better than a billboard or another type of medium because it's quicker and it's faster and they're going to see it over and over again and you're going to get to that 13th time quicker online, than you will on other mediums.

Marisa Huston  29:51  
And I'm sure that things will continue to change and develop as we go. There's a lot of new technology news that's happening as we speak and things are just gonna keep moving. And that's why it's so important to stay on top of things, to talk to people like you who are there on the front lines really experiencing what's happening and are able to shift as needed for business. How can people get ahold of you and learn more about your offerings?

Tina Sorensen  30:17  
They can reach me through my website at www.trusolutionsco.com. And that's TRu without the E solutions co.com. They can actually just even sign up to do a quick consultation. I'll do a little bit of research on their business and we can sit and go over what I see from my perspective and help them figure out a really good strategy moving forward.

Marisa Huston  30:43  
Thank you, Tina. I really appreciate everything. 

Tina Sorensen  30:47  
Thank you. It was so wonderful being on this podcast with you. 

Marisa Huston  30:51  
That's a wrap for this episode of Live Blissed Out. Thanks for listening and thanks to Tina Sorensen, for joining us on the show. If you have a question or comment for a future episode, all you have to do is go to www.speakpipe.com/lbovm or click the link in the show notes to leave a brief audio message. If you find value in our show, please visit www.liveblissedout.com to reach out subscribe and share on social media. This show is made possible through listeners like you. Thank you. So long for now and remember to keep moving forward!