Remember the good 'ol days when just posting something on social media meant people would see it? Not anymore... For new businesses that are getting started on social media, you should be ready to pay-to-play. For example, if you posted something on Facebook, you're likely only going to reach one-percent of your audience. In order to get your audience to see your post in their news feed, you will need to "Boost" that post. That's right...you'll have to pay. Facebook says "Your feed should inform. Your feed should entertain." The more your content gets shared, the more it becomes relevant. So in order for your content to get shared, it has to be seen. In order to be seen you'll need to put some money behind it. So that begs the question: what is the ROI?
According to The CMO Survey, 40 percent of CMOs say that social media is under-performing against the rest of their marketing efforts. Just 11.5 percent have said they can prove the ROI of social media. Even when you can't prove the ROI of a post actually selling your product, it's best to keep the content flowing.
Bottom line is that no matter what social channel you're using, you'll only drive real results if you spend money. If not, the content you're posting isn't being effectively utilized and you're wasting your time.
If you're interested in discussing this more, feel free to contact me.