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We’ve been told for years that advertising on social media is free, but it’s a myth. You’ve heard of the old saying “Nothing in life is free”, well, it’s true. Sure, you might be running your own social media accounts and not paying to boost your posts etc., but that still doesn’t make it free, unless of course your time is worth nothing?
If you post/tweet 5 times per day, your time will be used taking pictures, editing them, thinking of what to write, choosing the right time to post based on time spent studying your analytics and then tweaking it each day so more people can potentially see your posts etc. Then, let’s consider any comments or questions you might get. Those take time to answer.
Plus, the time needed to research the best hashtags to use to reach your ideal audience. And let’s not forget the time you spend on social media reviewing everyone else’s posts when you should be working – I know you do it! Add up all that time and multiply it by what your time is worth… It’s not cheap, is it?
I mentioned this already, but if you’re not taking your own photos then you need to pay the photographer. If you are using stock images then you will need to pay the license (of course there are free stock photos, but everyone else is using them, and you want to stand out from the rest, don’t you?)
I touched on this when I mentioned about finding the optimum time to post, but studying your analytics is a very time consuming activity. If you’ve ever looked at the analytics section of your social media you might find it all looks like gobbledygook. This could lead to you also investing in a course to learn how to view your analytics and use them to your advantage. Or, you might invest in paid analytics that breaks it down into language you can understand.
To pay for your posts to be seen on social media (in theory) but after reviewing your analytics, just how many people are actually seeing your posts? And once you boost one, then the next will be seen by even less people if you don’t boost it also.
To sum it up, social media isn't free. Times are changing and the management of these networks should be more and more professional every day, after all, the competition is huge. Access to information and the ease in which we get access is starting to generate new professions. Change is imminent and seen in a positive light, but you should change gradually because the consumer wants changes, not problems, improvements that facilitate the journey, not obstacles. We still have a long way to go.
