When thinking of businesses that are successfully using social media, most people probably think of big, established brands, or companies in ‘sexy’ industries like entertainment or even marketing.
Many also assume that in order to be successful on social media, a business needs to meet certain criteria, such as:
- Having an already-established email list or customer database
- Having a big budget to invest in social media ads and audience engagement
- Having a content-rich website in place
In this article, however, I’ll demonstrate how 4 companies in unlikely, ‘unsexy’ industries or situations have experienced positive ROI through their social media efforts. The point being: if they can do it, why can’t you?
Retirement Community Achieves Positive ROI on Facebook
When thinking of ways to reach an aging population, social media is usually not at the top of most marketers’ lists. However, recent data released by Pew Research indicates that while seniors are typically late adopters of new technology, their relationship with technology and the Internet continues to grow: with 46% of online seniors, and 27% of the total older adult population using social networking sites, there’s plenty of opportunity within this age demographic for marketers.
This is what one
Using a combination of various Facebook engagement strategies, Facebook ads, as well as YouTube videos sharing notable events and experiences in their community, the Redstone Living retirement community gained almost 200 new Facebook fans, at a cost of only $26.67 per ‘like’. Better yet, the overall campaign reached 86,832 people, driving traffic from Facebook that resulted in an average of 9 pages per visit and an average time on site of nearly 6 minutes. That’s a sign of a well-targeted campaign!
Considering the potential revenue of just one of these followers joining the community, the investment is extremely minimal, while the ROI is significant.
Source: GlynnDevins Marketing
Dentist Increases Customer Base Through Social Media
When dentist Claudia Anderson decided to replace traditional and costly marketing methods like the Yellow Pages and newspaper coupons with social media marketing, she had no idea what to expect. She felt her dental practice was in jeopardy of dying if she couldn’t find a way to market herself more effectively; so when a client off-handedly suggested she create a website and Twitter account, she decided to take the plunge.
Using a variety of strategies including a regular ‘Ask the Dentist’ feature on her blog, posting dental health videos on YouTube, and attending local ‘Tweet ups’ where she could connect in real life with her social media followers, she managed to not only dramatically increase her online presence, but to achieve a measurable increase in new clients. She now offers two major takeaways from her success with social media:
- Have an interactive website with rich, fresh content, which allows readers to leave comments and feedback.
- Be regular and predictable with content publication, and then engage, engage, engage.
For more proof that social media works wonders in the dental industry, run a quick Google search for ‘social media for dentists’ to see reams of marketing agencies that are dedicated to solely helping dentists promote themselves online.
Source: Blog World
Business Without a Website Uses Twitter and Exceeds Sales Expectations by 6x
Mari Luangrath set out to use Twitter to generate some interest in her newly launched online company, Foiled Cupcakes. However, the way this came about was somewhat unexpected; due to unforeseen circumstances, the company’s website needed a complete overhaul right around the time of their launch. So, Mari decided to get active on Twitter in the meantime to help bridge the gap.
According to Mari, the strategy was simple: “We followed people in our target demographic and began to converse with them about the things that they were interested in”. No hard sell, no sending traffic to their website, no getting people into their online sales funnel; just participating in conversations with their target market.
This simple strategy paid off in spades: within 6 weeks, Foiled Cupcakes went from 0 to 2200 Twitter followers, and exceeded their original sales target 6 times over.
Source: Sprout Social
Local Plumber Doubles Investment in Facebook
While plumbing probably isn’t the first industry that comes to mind when you think of social media, Four Seasons Plumbing in Asheville, NC, took a chance that paid off: a single Facebook campaign reached an audience of over 20,000 people, and even resulted in unanticipated leads and sales. And all this from only $120 spent on a Facebook boosted post.
Their goal was to increase their presence on social media, while also helping out a local charity. The plan went like this: the company would donate $1 to a local animal shelter each time they received a ‘like’ on their Facebook page. Max Rose, owner of Four Seasons Plumbing, reported, “We couldn’t have been happier with the results. We finished the month of March with 1650 likes! This exceeded our expectations and we only spent $120 for one Facebook boost. On top of that, during the month of March, we received just under $3000 in revenue form leads generated directly from the campaign. We never imagined actually getting leads directly from the campaign!”
Source: Footbridge Media
Personal Injury Lawyer Strikes Gold After Nearly Giving Up On Social Media
Jonathan Rosenfeld recalls how he nearly gave up on social media marketing after seeing no direct clients result from his efforts to tweet, check-in, and build his social media audiences. "It wasn't for lack of effort," says Rosenfeld. "No matter how enthusiastic I was about a particular area of tort law, the average person probably has no interest in reading a blog post about the implications of health insurance subrogation. I learned the hard way that no matter how well-research, written, and presented material in this genre is, there simply is a very limited audience."
Over the past year, Rosenfeld worked on two successful social media projects that resulted in real ROI. One included a scholarship opportunity focused on single mothers. Within 30 days of the announcement of the scholarship, the program had attracted dozens of inbound links from colleges, law schools, and blogs related to single mothers.
The other was a support group for people with recalled Stryker Rejuvenate hips on Facebook. “We started this page shortly after the hip prosthetics were pulled from the market, basically posting some news articles about the recall and some of the medical implications associated with the device,” says Rosenfeld. “Within a few months, we had attracted a small group of people who actually had the defective devices. Rather than put the hard-sell on these people, we allowed them to talk amongst themselves, and we’d chime in when they asked something of us. To date, we have more than 25 of these cases that we can trace directly to this Facebook group. In terms of an investment, the formation of the group and seeding it with some material cost us nothing, and I certainly see these as high-value cases with a significant upside.”
Rosenfeld now says he’s placing a lot less emphasis on likes and shares. “I now use social media primarily to establish relationships with other attorneys and industry people, as opposed to expecting new clients to come to me directly. I've slowly begun to recognize that social media really is for everyone; it just depends on knowing how to leverage it most effectively for your niche.”
Conclusion
Throughout the years, I’ve seen businesses in virtually every niche and industry achieve success through social media. Yet, the most common excuse I hear from business owners why they aren’t paying attention to their social media accounts is that their industry “isn’t a good fit for social media.” With research showing that nearly every demographic is active on social media to some extent, marketers shouldn’t neglect this avenue.
Regardless of your niche or industry, your customers or clients are on social media: it’s just up to you to figure out which platforms they’re using, and how best to reach them. For more on implementing a social media strategy for your business, see:
- How to Determine Which Social Media Network Fits Your Business
- The 5 Best Tools for Measuring Social Media Performance
- 5 Reasons Why Your Social Media Campaign Isn’t Working
If you’re already working on a social media campaign but looking for ways to optimize it, see my article, How to Maximize ROI on Your Facebook and Twitter Campaigns.
Have you assumed your business isn’t a good fit for social media, then achieved positive ROI from a social media campaign? Which platforms did you use to reach out to your target market, and what strategies did you employ? Share below!
