My partner had her car services the other day and she got a hire car.  The hire car was built in South Korea and down the side of the car in big writing were the words

150,000 Mile warranty.

In big letters you couldn't miss it ..... or could you. :)

On the way back to pick her car up when the service was completed, I mention the car we were in and the fact that 150,000 mile warranty was a big thing.

She didn't know what I was talking about and had never "seen" the writing down the side of the car.

With letters right down the side of the car, surely she would have seen it.  But there you have the target audience, not seeing the ad. 

What Was The Last Three Ads You Saw?

At conferences, before I start my presentation I always get the audience to stand up. Then sit down if you can remember the last three ads you have seen.  Of course, nobody sits down, as nobody remembers advertisements.

Advertising The Elephant in The Room 

The research is in and "Marketers say audience targeting is both the most effective programmatic advertising tactic and the most difficult to execute, according to recent research from Ascend2."

So Here's Thing.

We all hate advertising, it's 1930s technology lost in a 2020 world.

We hate the interruptions.

The big issue here is targetting, so finding the right people who will buy your product.  Want to target the right people?

Here's a way for you to find, exactly the people you want. 

Advertising is Over

Simon Kemp in his DataReportal analysis shows that 3.96 billion people use social media today, accounting for roughly 51 percent of the global population.

Put simply, this means that more people now use social media than do not.

This milestone is all the more impressive when we consider that most social media companies restrict the use of their platforms to people aged 13 and above. In fact, the latest numbers indicate that nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of the world’s total ‘eligible’ population now uses social media.

And adoption is still growing rapidly. Worldwide user numbers have surged by more than 10 percent over the past 12 months, with an average of more than 1 million people starting to use social media for the first time every single day since this time last year.

With more than 376 million new users since July 2019, that translates to almost 12 new users every second, suggesting that user numbers are growing even faster today than they were at the start of 2020.

He goes on to say

Given the broadening role of social media in people’s lives, it’s important that marketers and communicators think more broadly about where social media fits in their plans.

Critically, social media is increasingly a ‘layer’ that permeates almost every aspect of our audiences’ daily lives, rather than being a distinct ‘destination’ with a more siloed sphere of influence.

The trick to making the most of social media today is to understand how these platforms can complement and augment all of our marketing and communication activities.

My advice would be to think less about populating a content calendar, and focus more on identifying and initiating the conversations that matter most to you and the audiences that you care about. 

What he's say is that people don't go to social media, they are there.  It isn't a destination, it's where we live.

The Answer Is Not Ads on Social Media

Let's clear something up, advertising on social media is not social media is't advertising.  It's still interruptions.  

Is This a Business Case? or What? 

In this interview with Danielle Guzman who is Global Head of Social Media for Mercer and we discuss "5 Things to Kick Start Your Employee Advocacy Program" and she shares the value they have gained from empowering their employees with social media.

Mercer are getting 3 to 4 times the attributed revenue than the brand generates.  Can you believe that? If the brand is creating $10 million, then empowering your team on social will generate $40 million.

She says in the interview that the brand, does generate "something", but where they empower their employees on social, they can attribute that the employees will create 3 to 4 times more revenue than the brand. 

Mercer is a conservative organisation, but they recognize that they should and need to lead with their people and guess what?  It generates more business than if they don't do it.

Cut Your Advertising Budget and Put it into Social

Why not contact me here and let's have a chat. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothyhughessocialselling/