Why @LushLtd has it all wrong about social media, Tim Hughes

In case you hadn't heard

Starting November 26, also known as Black Friday, Lush Cosmetics will quit social media.

"The brand will no longer post on four platforms–Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and Facebook. Its Twitter, Snapchat, and Pinterest accounts will remain active for customer care and inspirational content, and the four aforementioned accounts will remain on those platforms for brand protection but no longer actively post or engage with followers. Lush will also invest more time and resources into its app, email newsletter, and in-person activations to make up for the disconnect.

This also isn’t the first time the UK-based brand has attempted a clean break from the interwebs. Back in 2019, it took an almost one-year break from social media before the unexpected challenges of COVID-19 forced it to come crawling back."

So what does Lush not seem to know ...

Your customers are on social media

According to this research created by Simon Kemp and paid for by Hootsuite and We Are Social.

There are now 4½ billion social media users around the world – equal to more than 57 percent of the world's total population

The number of social media users is still increasing at an average rate of more than 1 million per day – that's 13 new users every single second

The typical global user spends an average of almost 2½ hours per day using social platforms

More than 7 in 10 internet users aged 16 to 64 say that they research brands, products, and services on social platforms

When looking for information about brands, global internet users aged 16 to 24 are now *more likely* to turn to social media than they are to use search engines like Google

Customers are what drive our business

As a business, customers are our life blood, we only pay the rent by customers spending money. Social media gives us direct access to them ... we can find out what they think, what products they like, what products they don't like, they are a free research and development team.

Better still, as a brand, we can empower customers, activate them, we can get them to create user generated content (UGC), we can get them to activate referrals and word of mouth marketing.

Why would you make yourself more distant from your customers?

Why would you pull up the drawbridge and sit in your castle and hope that somebody uses you app and throw emails over the top of your castle turrets hoping somebody reads them?

Social media gives you control

Social media means you are in control, if somebody is abusive, you report them and block them.

But let's think about this for a moment. As a business you want conversations with prospects and customers, why because conversations create sales. As I mentioned above, customer service gives you direct access to your customers you can find out what they think. Your job as a brand is too understand that some people won't agree with you. But you cannot be all things to all people, that's life

Email marketing doesn't work

Some of you will look at that and tink, yes it does, this is just Tim's opinion. Sorry but the data says it does not work, check out my article here, using Hubspot data.

I had to laugh the other day, there was research on email marketing, where a email company had contacted email marketers and asked them was the most important marketing tactic was. Guess what? It was email marketing. No shit sherlock!

This report by Hubspot is different, it uses the data from all their clients, no opinions.

What does Hubspot and email marketing company say about email marketing?

Yamini Rangan, CEO from Hubspot says says "we are inundated with email, especially busy executives and we are overwhelmed. So how do you cut through this, that is where the key is?"

The last thing you need to do is send more and more emails and fight push marketing with push marketing. It's like putting out a fire with gasoline.

It's interesting to hear Kipp CMO at Hubspot says say that Hubspot are "sending less email."

Research From All These Companies Back This up

Mckinsey say so, Gartner say so, Hootsuite and We Are Social say so, Hubspot say so, Google say so, MIT say so, Trustradius say so Twilio say so ....

I read Adam Gray, my business partner's Linkedin post today and he said

"The idea that someone would wish to subscribe to “sales communications” is precisely the problem with the entire marketing industry at the moment.

To quote Barack Obama “you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig”… you can use lovely photography on your sales brochure but it’s still a sales brochure. You can dress it up as a newsletter…but it’s still a sales brochure and if you’re not very careful it will turn your prospects off rather than on."

I hear some of you say, "oh yes Tim, but people will subscribe for offers" and of course they will. This means you are happy as a business to have margin erosion. Many a shop has become addicted to sales to get sales and many of those are no longer here, it's a race to the bottom.

I was talking to a senior person in BMW recently and they said they had done away with sales, by purley being on social media.

When the data proves you are wrong you have to reflect

I was asked the other day on a panel session, what did I think about telling 90% of marketers they are wrong. My answer was simple, when the data clearly shows that email marketing does not work, as a business you have stop banging your head against the wall and find an alternative.

So who's social selling?

In case you missed it, the Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch have banned cold calling and have moved all their people to social selling. This isn't some trendy tech company that might have decided to do this on a whim, this is a very conservative financial services company that has made a decision based on data.

But surely cold calling has a better ROI than social selling? Not according to Merrill Lynch.

"They will also be encouraged to contact prospects over LinkedIn, which has a higher hit rate than cold calling"

The CRO (chief revenue officer), Richard Eltham of Namos Solutions, of one of clients posted a comment on LinkedIn about social selling. See here.

“Social selling is not an option now it is the way of the world and you either learn and execute it or fear getting left behind”

Kevin Murray who is the Head of Sales at MacArtney Underwater Technology recently posted about his success with social selling here and wrote an article about the transformation that has happened in sales here.

I don't believe you Tim!

If you check out this video of Chris Mason CEO at Oracle reseller Namos, fast forward to 19 minutes 55 seconds. Chris talks about a $2.6 million win from being on social, after completing the DLA Ignite social selling and influence course.

Here at DLA Ignite we don't do "hints and tips sessions" we don't want you to waste your money. Our social selling and influence methodology will provide your sales team with the stable platform for growth. It is also the only social selling program based on 70:20:10 change management principles which gives your business the mindset change and habit change they need in this digital world.

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It’s not every day that you see a brand bid adieu to social media. In fact, these are the accounts that surge their engagement during the holidays, when a lot of us are at least trying to unplug and relax IRL. Starting November 26, also known as Black Friday, Lush Cosmetics will be doing the exact opposite when it quits social media, which begs the question: will we see others eventually do the same?

https://www.blogher.com/social-media/lush-quits-social-media-27379/