Why Giving Away a Free Month of Social Media Marketing Won’t Work
In a span of 2 hours, I saw two different Facebook ads from local marketing companies offering a free month of social media marketing when you mention that Facebook post.
Excuse me while I laugh hysterically and get sick at the same time.
Anyone reputable who works in social media and knows what they are doing knows that you can’t achieve success in just 30 days. It’s just not that easy. Yes, you may see great results after 30 days if you are just starting and running a massive amount of social advertising or if you are offering a free product for your business, but after 30 days? Crickets. Simply crickets.
See, executing a successful social media marketing campaign takes time. Now I know it is just a gimmick to get leads but most will do their free month and not continue. If you are a business owner, do you really want to have someone do your social marketing for free for 30 days then turn it over to you with no guidance on what to do?
I see two sides of this.
For the social media pro…
- Do you really want to spend time on a business that may not turn into a client?
- Are you really not that busy that you can take on free work for a whole month?
- Are you that desperate for business that you are willing to just give away your services for free?
For the business owner…
- I know free is awesome, but are you really going to get quality work from a person offering a free month?
- Are you going to feel pressured to commit to something you’re not ready (or don’t want) to commit to?
- Can you really trust someone willing to give away a free month when there are other reputable professionals out that that can help you?
- Is social marketing a long-term strategy for your business? If so, don’t waste your time on a free 30 day special.
As a social media professional, I am offended by someone offering a free month of work. It cheapens what the rest of us are doing. We work really, really hard for our clients and there is a lot of detail that goes into the job that most businesses don’t realize. That’s why they hire us.
There are other ways going about getting leads – write a whitepaper. Hold a contest. Offer a free 30 minute consulting session. Your time is your money and giving that much of it away for free means one of two things, either you’re desperate for clients or don’t need the money.
If you are a business owner and considering social media as a part of your marketing strategy, it is worth the investment to hire a quality pro who looks beyond 30 days and had your business’ best interest at heart.
If you are a social media pro doing something like this. Stop. Just stop.
What are your thoughts about this? Smart? Tacky? Cheap?
