Getting results on social without paying

In the previous chapter we looked at the options for paid social media advertising.  The reality is that when companies pay for social media advertising what they are really looking to get are immediate sales and results.  They are paying to show an advert that takes a user away from the social media platform and onto their website.  Building an audience on social media, and then engaging with them to build a better relationship with your company or product, is a different strategy.  You can still pay to speed this up (such as paying to build up your page likes, as we discussed in the previous chapter), but if you are not paying for social then this is where your content, your time, and your brand voice all have to come together to get results.

You could start with a blank sheet of paper when planning out your social media strategy, but that’s a hard place to start.  Instead, we’re going to start by finding successful companies who have a similar brand voice to yours and are talking to a similar audience on social media, and then becoming their biggest fan.

The larger the company, and the bigger their following, the more they will have tested what works on each social media platform, which means you don’t need to reinvent the wheel.  If you want to really make social media work for you then become a student of those who are doing it the best in your market.  Learn everything you can about how and what they post.  This is especially useful if you are looking at platforms you are not familiar with.