Social media marketing

[tony84]

I have always been a little sceptical of social media marketing.
- I have never bought anything through social media as far as I can remember.
- I cant imagine anyone wants to hear about mortgage related stuff, cupcakes or something is a bit different as its tangible.

A couple of years ago, I employed a lady to do some bits over a short period (6-8 weeks). She was pretty honest in saying that realistically it wont produce any sales directly, but indirectly it might help to convert people already looking at you (boost trust for example). What she did was quite good and I was impressed, but ultimately as expected it produced nothing directly (or as far as I am aware indirectly), but that is not taking away from the lady. I think she did a good job but the cost involved for the returns did not sit well.

Anyway, it tends to die down for me in mid November through til mid-late January so I have spent some time putting together a bit of a social media plan.

First thing first, I underestimated how much time and skill goes into this!

I had some ideas and thoughts on what to post. Combined with some things I have tried in the past (albeit a bit half arsed) I came up with an outline of a plan. I currently have enough ideas for 32 weeks (@ 1 post per week). This took a good half a day and no doubt would have taken longer if starting from scratch. I still have another 20 weeks worth of content to think about. That will take some time.

I then had a play around with Canva (which is excellent if you have never heard of it) and buffer (I did tr a few others but the buffer free plan seems to be best for a beginner who is playing at it). Putting the images together isnt too bad, Canva is very good and not overly complicated once you get to grips with it. There has been another good half a day putting graphics together for the posts.

I imagine putting everything on buffer is going to be another day or so.


All in to get a reasonable plan of 1 post a week for the year is going to take me about a week. No idea if it is worth it, but I know if I do 3-4 months worth now, in 3-4 months time I will have other things to do and it will be another year of half arsed at best.

I doubt I will remember to update this in 12 months but it will be nice to come back in 12 months and have an idea of what worked best, what didnt work etc. I might even learn about best times to post (although if anyone knows what and wants to help me cheat, I am all ears).

 

[ctrlbrk]

All in to get a reasonable plan of 1 post a week for the year is going to take me about a week.

Just bear in mind that with the free plan on Buffer you can keep a max of 10 posts in "Scheduled" status.

That means being able to schedule a max of 10 posts. If you want to schedule more, you need to wait until the older ones are posted (or pay for the upgraded plan ofc).

 

[Paul FilmMaker]

I have always been a little sceptical of social media marketing.
- I have never bought anything through social media as far as I can remember.
- I cant imagine anyone wants to hear about mortgage related stuff, cupcakes or something is a bit different as its tangible.

A couple of years ago, I employed a lady to do some bits over a short period (6-8 weeks). She was pretty honest in saying that realistically it wont produce any sales directly, but indirectly it might help to convert people already looking at you (boost trust for example). What she did was quite good and I was impressed, but ultimately as expected it produced nothing directly (or as far as I am aware indirectly), but that is not taking away from the lady. I think she did a good job but the cost involved for the returns did not sit well.

Anyway, it tends to die down for me in mid November through til mid-late January so I have spent some time putting together a bit of a social media plan.

First thing first, I underestimated how much time and skill goes into this!

I had some ideas and thoughts on what to post. Combined with some things I have tried in the past (albeit a bit half arsed) I came up with an outline of a plan. I currently have enough ideas for 32 weeks (@ 1 post per week). This took a good half a day and no doubt would have taken longer if starting from scratch. I still have another 20 weeks worth of content to think about. That will take some time.

I then had a play around with Canva (which is excellent if you have never heard of it) and buffer (I did tr a few others but the buffer free plan seems to be best for a beginner who is playing at it). Putting the images together isnt too bad, Canva is very good and not overly complicated once you get to grips with it. There has been another good half a day putting graphics together for the posts.

I imagine putting everything on buffer is going to be another day or so.


All in to get a reasonable plan of 1 post a week for the year is going to take me about a week. No idea if it is worth it, but I know if I do 3-4 months worth now, in 3-4 months time I will have other things to do and it will be another year of half arsed at best.

I doubt I will remember to update this in 12 months but it will be nice to come back in 12 months and have an idea of what worked best, what didnt work etc. I might even learn about best times to post (although if anyone knows what and wants to help me cheat, I am all ears).

So amazingly, we're seeing better results for TV advertising than, say, social advertising. And that's not us, rather that's our customers.

For companies spending £2,000 per more per month and a minimum of £5,000 on a creative, TV's been producing more sales. This is everything from cybersecurity to a local bed shop which is targeting purely people moving into the area (because that's when you're most likely to buy a bed).

The bed shop just did a testimonial saying they've 10x'd their sales.

However, social can work. But it's more about being there all the time so that buyers are aware of you and interested buyers will be aware of you at the moment they need to buy.

So this is going to sound a bit self-promotionally so look away if this causes issues:

We have a product we sell through marketing agencies called '50 in a day.' The objective is purely to generate more sales on Linkedin although we also have a Facebook product. The objective is to create 50 posts in a single day so you can do all your social for the year in one go. Specifically on Linkedin. Not Insta or Tiktok which are different and we don't go there.

The Facebook thing is different because it's all about advertising on local community groups or specialised groups without looking like you're advertising. i.e. Heavily disguised content marketing. So we have the same product but designed purely for those markets.

And yes, it takes a while to get the hang of it and also the platforms. So we typically generate a couple of sales per year from Linkedin. It took a little while to get there but we did.

 

[tony84]

Just bear in mind that with the free plan on Buffer you can keep a max of 10 posts in "Scheduled" status.

That means being able to schedule a max of 10 posts. If you want to schedule more, you need to wait until the older ones are posted (or pay for the upgraded plan ofc).

I wasnt aware of that!
I have just checked, its only a fiver a month so not too bad for the next level which does 100 posts.

 

[tony84]

So amazingly, we're seeing better results for TV advertising than, say, social advertising. And that's not us, rather that's our customers.

For companies spending £2,000 per more per month and a minimum of £5,000 on a creative, TV's been producing more sales. This is everything from cybersecurity to a local bed shop which is targeting purely people moving into the area (because that's when you're most likely to buy a bed).

The bed shop just did a testimonial saying they've 10x'd their sales.

However, social can work. But it's more about being there all the time so that buyers are aware of you and interested buyers will be aware of you at the moment they need to buy.

So this is going to sound a bit self-promotionally so look away if this causes issues:

We have a product we sell through marketing agencies called '50 in a day.' The objective is purely to generate more sales on Linkedin although we also have a Facebook product. The objective is to create 50 posts in a single day so you can do all your social for the year in one go. Specifically on Linkedin. Not Insta or Tiktok which are different and we don't go there.

The Facebook thing is different because it's all about advertising on local community groups or specialised groups without looking like you're advertising. i.e. Heavily disguised content marketing. So we have the same product but designed purely for those markets.

And yes, it takes a while to get the hang of it and also the platforms. So we typically generate a couple of sales per year from Linkedin. It took a little while to get there but we did.

I suppose with adverts you are generally not going to get away from them. Its not like in the old days with coronation street where everyone would go and make a brew. 2-3 adverts before you start a box set episode, your just going to sit through it

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

- I have never bought anything through social media as far as I can remember.
- I cant imagine anyone wants to hear about mortgage related stuff, cupcakes or something is a bit

You haven't but a lot of people have and do! That is the audience you need to attract via the ways they want to be interacted with.

 

[Mark T Jones]

As with all things marketing, the answer starts with working out where your customers (or conduits) hang out, and how they consume information.

My wife's equine business is incredibly responsive to Facebook- she hardly ever even posts, but occasionally just adds value by giving thoughts and information on relevant pages (never as self promotion)

On the other hand, i get referred leads from. LinkedIn by regular posting (sometimes totally unrelated to finance, but approximately 1 in 20 posts is blatant self promotion)

My personal thought on mortgages is to focus on answering questions and becoming a reference place, rather than selling mortgages - much like you do on here

 

[fisicx]

Become an expert on any financial forum, blog, QandA and other sites you can find.

Will be far cheaper and more fruitful than scheduling anything on FB and X that might get seen by random people and then ignored.

Go to where your prospective clients hang out as @Mark T Jones suggests.

 

[tony84]

As with all things marketing, the answer starts with working out where your customers (or conduits) hang out, and how they consume information.

My wife's equine business is incredibly responsive to Facebook- she hardly ever even posts, but occasionally just adds value by giving thoughts and information on relevant pages (never as self promotion)

On the other hand, i get referred leads from. LinkedIn by regular posting (sometimes totally unrelated to finance, but approximately 1 in 20 posts is blatant self promotion)

My personal thought on mortgages is to focus on answering questions and becoming a reference place, rather than selling mortgages - much like you do on here

Become an expert on any financial forum, blog, QandA and other sites you can find.

Will be far cheaper and more fruitful than scheduling anything on FB and X that might get seen by random people and then ignored.

Go to where your prospective clients hang out as @Mark T Jones suggests.

I do do that.
But it is one of those things where the time you put in probably does not pay for itself.

I am happy to just genuinely help people. It can be stressful buying a home, so its nice to just be nice I suppose. But as a way of generating business, its not really viable if I was reliant on it. Its more of a top up I suppose and this is one of the biggest forums in the country I think.

 

[PetalandPineVA]

What socials are you posting on?

Doing posts is all good but like you say it isn't helping on its own, needs to be combined with you actually engaging with other people's posts, commenting, building relationships.

It's so complicated though and does feel hit or miss.

 

[ctrlbrk]

What socials are you posting on?

Doing posts is all good but like you say it isn't helping on its own, needs to be combined with you actually engaging with other people's posts, commenting, building relationships.

It's so complicated though and does feel hit or miss.

Like Mark T Jones said in the other thread, it depends on the business.

For us, we needed something to post updates from our website so we opted for Twitter / X - when that became radioactive we migrated to Bluesky.

I'm not a social media expert but LinkedIn strikes me as something that could help your field.

Again, though, relationship building is key.

 

[tony84]

What socials are you posting on?

Doing posts is all good but like you say it isn't helping on its own, needs to be combined with you actually engaging with other people's posts, commenting, building relationships.

It's so complicated though and does feel hit or miss.

The job gets bigger and bigger!

Like Mark T Jones said in the other thread, it depends on the business.

For us, we needed something to post updates from our website so we opted for Twitter / X - when that became radioactive we migrated to Bluesky.

I'm not a social media expert but LinkedIn strikes me as something that could help your field.

Again, though, relationship building is key.

The only people I find on linked in are recruitment consultants, other brokers or account managers.
I dont really get potential customers from there?


Quick update:
I started on the 20th December. In part because we were moving office so gave me something to post about, along with the obligatory happy christmas/new year posts.

The engagements seem to be from the same handful of existing customers and some close friends/family.

I have enough ideas already to keep me going until mid-late March. By then, I will need to put more time into coming up with ideas for the next few months. I will keep it going until then as a minimum.

I will also try to engage with others as suggested. But so far, its definitely not worth it.

 

[ctrlbrk]

The only people I find on linked in are recruitment consultants, other brokers or account managers.
I dont really get potential customers from there?

Sorry Tony, if it appeared I was replying to you. I was in fact replying to that post by @PetalandPineVA .

I could be wrong about LinkedIn - never really used it myself.

 

[tony84]

I will be doing this social media marketing stuff until the ned of Feb/early March. After that I will have used up everything I put together.

So far, the results are a few likes from family/existing customers on each post. My conclusion is that social media is pointless in the main. I did it my way and I used an expert last year and neither of us got anything from it.

However....
I had a sign put in our office window. When I went downstairs I could barely see it. There is a group for our local village and I put a jokey post on there about the worst sign in our village and asked if anyone had seen it (then put "no neither have we") with a picture of it from the ground.

That has something like 60 likes and I received 1-2 enquiries from it.

So social media posting about mortgage stuff - pointless.
Social media taking the P out of yourself - might work.

Funnily enough, I was sat with an account manager yesterday and he said he posts on linkedin about the lender he works for 2-15 likes, 99% of the people liking it work for the same bank as him. He then made a bit of a personal post and it got closer to 100 likes.

So none professional stuff works - I can do that! I would rather do that.

Obviously 1 business, trialling for 2 months(ish) is hardly conclusive. But im giving up on social media.

 

[fisicx]

I get all sorts of emails offering SMM. Most get junked but every now and then I reply. When I suggest I pay on results they just don’t want to know. The only one that did take up my offer didn’t manage to generate a single lead.

SMM works for some. But it mostly doesn’t.

 

[Martin Patfield]

I'm no social media manager or expert but it's something we are struggling with as a business at the moment so had read your original post with interest back then.

I was going to say, don't get hung up on the "likes" on posts. They effectively don't mean anything. Your not monetising your social media so don't get paid for that.

Engagement would be more important.

So you taking the mick out of yourselves has raised more engagement than you actually promoting your business or service.

 

[tony84]

I'm no social media manager or expert but it's something we are struggling with as a business at the moment so had read your original post with interest back then.

I was going to say, don't get hung up on the "likes" on posts. They effectively don't mean anything. Your not monetising your social media so don't get paid for that.

Engagement would be more important.

So you taking the mick out of yourselves has raised more engagement than you actually promoting your business or service.

Im not hung up on the likes. But I just took it as part of overall engagement. When I said likes, I meant likes/comments/extra followers... But I dont think I have any extra followers, I have barely any likes and even less comments. Bar the one post which was just taking the P out of our sign.

I will continue to post little bits, but I think the reality is im not going to get customers from posts on my facebook page.

Trying to engage with other posts is difficult as not many people post about looking for a mortgage or starting the process etc. Its normally the picture at the front door holiday the key at which point it is too late for us.

Im not too fussed, it would just going to be an additional lead source. We can certainly live without it. It was worth a try. It failed, it took about 3-4 days of my time organising everything so was worth a try.

 

[Mark T Jones]

At a recent broker event (not something I'd recommend or shout about) a fellow broker was complaining that he'd spent tens of thousands on SEO and PPC and got precisely no return. I stayed quiet whilst smugly pondering that my spend is precisely zero, but get on average 2 deals a year - not earth shattering, but easily enough to cover the business overhead.

The difference- he was going large, trying to cover broad terms like 'business funding' 'equipment finance ' etc, whilst I stay in a tiny niche.

Often small results Trump big goals

 

[ZipserSir]

Just a general point, but... posting of itself generally doesn't generate sales leads. It can do, but it is the wrong assumption to base your strategy.

In your line of business you want people to think that when they need a mortgage you are their go to guy. That means they might be remembering something from six months ago and they don't remember where they saw it.

Your objective - should you choose to accept it - is to be the go to person for your service in their minds.

Good luck!

 

[tony84]

At a recent broker event (not something I'd recommend or shout about) a fellow broker was complaining that he'd spent tens of thousands on SEO and PPC and got precisely no return. I stayed quiet whilst smugly pondering that my spend is precisely zero, but get on average 2 deals a year - not earth shattering, but easily enough to cover the business overhead.

The difference- he was going large, trying to cover broad terms like 'business funding' 'equipment finance ' etc, whilst I stay in a tiny niche.

Often small results Trump big goals

I met an SEO bloke off this website many years ago (maybe 2017?). Without doubt one of the best moves I made was to employ him to do SEO.

It didnt happen overnight, but on the call with him you could tell his passion and knowledge was second to none. We were massively punching above our weight when covid hit.

I started off another business in 2021 and he is a partner in that business now. SEO can work but as you say you need to know what to target. Targeting mortgage advice or business finance were never going to hit that because our budgets wouldnt cover it and in fairness we couldnt cope if we did.

 

[tony84]

Just a general point, but... posting of itself generally doesn't generate sales leads. It can do, but it is the wrong assumption to base your strategy.

In your line of business you want people to think that when they need a mortgage you are their go to guy. That means they might be remembering something from six months ago and they don't remember where they saw it.

Your objective - should you choose to accept it - is to be the go to person for your service in their minds.

Good luck!

I think this is fair.

I do my weekly blog post and some of those are success stories for quirky cases. So will continue to link to them on social media. Its not much effort and makes us look active if someone does go to our social media pages. But I put a lot of effort into these 2-3 months, I wont be matching that level of effort going forward.

I dont mind. It was worth a try. We were quiet in the run up to the mini budget so it gave me time to put things together. But im not convinced its worth the effort.

 

[ZipserSir]

As others may have suggested - PPC can be much more effective than social media, just don't underestimate how long the pay off can be on social. If I read a post or an article about later life mortgages today, and submit the author's name to memory, it might be months or longer before I get around to doing something about it!

 

[fisicx]

As others may have suggested - PPC can be much more effective than social media, just don't underestimate how long the pay off can be on social. If I read a post or an article about later life mortgages today, and submit the author's name to memory, it might be months or longer before I get around to doing something about it!

By which you will have forgotten the author, the website and what exactly they were writing about. Even worse, the deluge of AI slop is swamping anything useful.

 

[YasmeenLondon]

By which you will have forgotten the author, the website and what exactly they were writing about. Even worse, the deluge of AI slop is swamping anything useful.

The only one that did take up my offer didn’t manage to generate a single lead.

SMM works for some. But it mostly doesn’t.

Social Media Marketing is part of your overall marketing plan, you're not posting in a vacuum.

Posting and expecting a direct increase in sales is the fastest way to get fed up with social media for business.

Many companies use social media for reasons other than direct sales/leads generation, for example: customer service/customer outreach, as a portfolio and proof of work, sharing UGC, driving traffic to website, brand awareness, so many use cases, and being one of your brand's most visited touchpoints, and often the first interaction with potential or future prospects, you should avoid the trap of hyper focusing on one advantage and ignoring everything else, if you're not going to post regularly, then at least have a solid (well designed, consistent and professional looking) profile page with posts related to your business, never ignore it completely.

 

[ZipserSir]

By which you will have forgotten the author, the website and what exactly they were writing about. Even worse, the deluge of AI slop is swamping anything useful.

You've clearly never come across Branding before...

 

[fisicx]

You've clearly never come across Branding before...

Yes. But branding works when there are multiple, consistent and visible marketing. One post on Facebook is not branding (which is how I read your post). But if you regularly contributed to the websites and platforms I use, had an adverting campaign and recommendations from authoritative people then I would remember your name.