The number one question I get from people inquiring about my social strategy services is: “What ROI can I expect?” (Translation: Can you guarantee I’ll make more money if I hire you???)
I love a direct question, and I’m going to give you a direct answer too… Sales are not your social media girlie’s responsibility.
I’m breaking down why your content can do everything right, and you still might not see sales, using a steakhouse analogy and a real story about an app that got me from discovery to a $29.99 purchase in two minutes flat, versus one that lost me the second it asked for my credit card. The content did its job in both scenarios. What happened after is what made the difference.
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The Steakhouse Analogy
Think about the last time you went to a steakhouse. The waitress described the steak you were deciding on, made it sound incredible, and you got excited enough to order it. But then, after all that hype, the chef overcooks it. (dang it!)
That’s not on the waitress. She did her job, but the rest of the team made the experience fall apart.
Social media works basically the same way.
Your content is meant to get the right people through the door, build trust, create interest, and make someone excited enough to take the next logical step.
Whether someone actually buys, and whether they leave happy and tell their friends nice things about you, depends entirely on everything that happens after that.
Far too often, businesses jump into social media marketing before they’re ready. Meaning, they don’t have a proven offer yet, their website isn’t optimized, and they might not even have a sales process in place. Instead, they expect their social media marketing to compensate for the weaknesses everywhere else in their business. They’re hoping that if one post picks up enough traction, it’ll be enough to push a cold lead from discovery to conversion in one swoop. (As if social media were some magical marketing genie trapped in a lamp and if you rub it just right, it will grant you 3 wishes.)
But buyers don’t operate like that – especially at a higher price point!
Flip the script for a second and think about it as a consumer instead of a business owner. How many times have you discovered someone online and, within minutes, thought, “I’m going to spend five grand with this person I just found”? Probably never.
Most buying decisions, no matter the price point, happen through a series of smaller moments that build confidence over time. Sometimes that window is a few months to a few years. Sometimes it’s shorter than you’d think.
The App That Got My $29.99 (And the One That Didn’t)
The other day, I was scrolling Instagram when an ad popped up for a photo-editing app, one-click edits that matched my recent rebrand almost perfectly: motion blur, paper texture, dust particles, all these vintage-y effects. I’d never heard of the app before that moment. And it was a free download, so I figured I’d fck around and find out.
I downloaded it. Opened it. No paywall, no “pay now to actually use this thing” pop-up, which, let’s be honest, we’ve all hit before and immediately bounced from. I got to play with the free features and loved them.
But the part that actually got me was that I could also test the paid features. I couldn’t export with them, but I could tap around and preview exactly what I’d be paying for.
I got to experience the benefit before committing to it. Two minutes later, I paid for the $29.99 yearly subscription.
That’s discovery to conversion in literal minutes.
But it wasn’t that social ad that closed the sale. Listen carefully to the sequence of events again: social ad, free download, test the free features, experience a taste of the premium features, realize this is exactly what I needed, then purchase.
That’s a six-step journey.
And every single one of those steps chipped away at my uncertainty.
Now imagine that same app took a different approach. (An approach, I’ve also faced as a consumer and eyerolled at far too many times).
Same things happen in the beginning: served a social ad, piqued my curiosity, downloaded the app – and then this is when everything changes – because as soon as I downloaded the app, I get hit with a pop-up demanding payment before I’d experienced anything. Sorry no. Instant app deletion.
In both scenarios, the social media ad worked. The content did its job. It got a cold lead (me) to discover the app I’d never heard of, AND it got me interested and excited enough to take the next logical step (download the app).
The difference between the app I paid for and the app I deleted wasn’t the content. It was everything that happened after the content.
One company reduced my risk and let me experience the value before asking for money. The other one introduced friction before I’d experienced anything worth paying for, so of course I bounced.
It wouldn’t be fair to blame (or credit) the social team for either outcome, because only the beginning of that journey was theirs to own.
Why This Matters for Your Business
If you’re currently expecting your social media manager to somehow manufacture sales when you’re not making sales already, you’re setting yourself up for a rude awakening. This is exactly why I’ll actively deter you from investing in social media marketing if you’re not already making sales.
On the flipside, if your business is already moving and grooving without social media, I’ll absolutely encourage you to add it in, because it’s only going to amplify the results you’re already getting. But again, if your business is struggling without social media, you can’t expect social media to swoop in as some magical band-aid solution.
If the back end of your business is broken, social media is just going to show you those problems more front and center. You’ll get an influx of traffic, an influx of eyeballs, and you still won’t convert.
That means attention and desire aren’t the issue. Something else behind the scenes needs fixing, optimizing, or rethinking before you add more marketing fuel to the fire.
So, Is Social Media Responsible for Your Sales?
F*ck no. But it absolutely plays a role in acquiring new leads, building trust in your brand, and creating the visibility that gets people to eventually want to purchase from you.
If nobody knows you exist, they can’t buy from you. But just because people know you exist doesn’t mean they’re ready to buy, or that it’s easy to buy, or that nothing else is getting in their way.
So yes, invest in social media marketing. But only once you already have a proven offer and you’re already making sales. If you genuinely cannot make a sale to save your life, then social media is not the solution or the saving grace the internet might trick you into thinking it is.
But if your business is already moving and making that money, honey? Then social media marketing is only going to amplify what’s already working. So bring it on. You can inquire about my social strategy services here.
🎧 Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
