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?
This is true as I came across many clients claiming that they have many offers for first month free service. I don’t know how these companies or individuals want to spend their time and energy. May be yes they are desperate to get a client or just getting it.
It gets me too!
It baffles me too Mandy. A free month of social media content with no strategy, no true understanding of your business and clearly no value for THEIR time spells trouble. If a business is serious about their social presence, it has to invest in a strategy, formulate content (visual and text – branded), understand their audience across each platform and much more. No one in their right mind would offer this level of in depth service for free. Great topic for discussion Mandy.
Thanks Kapil! I agree – there is too much involved. I could see a free 30 days when signing a long-term commitment, but not just a one and done kind of thing.
Thank you, Mandy! Some common sense doesn’t kill, does it?
I think the problem comes from the fact there are too many companies involved in marketing. The competition being fierce, they just do what they think is the right thing. Which really should be an indication of their reliability. I would NEVER work with them!
I used to offer free 10-minute assessments. They were basic conversations to get to know a potential client better. I had to stop though. I was tired of receiving calls on Saturday and Sunday evenings. People expected me to give them all the answers without any work. Then, they would go to someone else for another freebie.
Thanks Cendrine!
I agree – there are so many people doing marketing out there and some think by giving away free services it will get them ahead of the rest. WRONG! It will attract clients you don’t want in the first place. Secondly, you will become like the ambulance-chaser attorney.
I used to do free 30-minute sessions, but wised up pretty quick when it never led to anything. That was when I first started and I still cringe over that.
We now offer them a free scan – that scores them against competitors – so they know they have a little to worry about (or perhaps spot an opportunity) – not a 10 minute job, but certainly not a ‘free ride’.
I agree. I takes some time to A. Formulate a good content strategy. B. Some months to execute and refine your strategy. C. Some time for the world to pick up on your strategy. Some success do not come overnight – but take some effort first.
As a business owner I would distrust anybody doing a month of social media marketing (or content marketing) for free. They would simply show their lack of understanding of the trade.