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.

Other articles you might be interested in ....

Would you buy social selling training course from somebody that doesn't use social selling?

How to create budget and build a business case for your social selling project

Articles for the CEO

What does success in a social selling project look like?

Can I be fired for not social selling?

How to Build an Executive Social Media Strategy That Works

What's the difference between legacy sales and modern selling?

Is making no change to my sales team an option in the world today?

Can my business speak directly to the modern buyer while retaining control of the message?

What is the secret sauce of social selling?

Can social selling break down the silos between sales and marketing?

Can I turn my LinkedIn time line from a load of rubbish into a load of value?

Why your random acts of social are killing your business

Can I find investors for my business with social selling?

Not understanding social selling is totally fine

Your social selling project isn't a decision of "yes" or "no" , it's when

Are you still measuring digital with an analogue mindset?

Can Social Selling help me navigate the great resignation?

Should my 2022 business planning include social selling?

Can I be data driven with social selling?

How grid selling will transform your pipeline and win rate

Can I use social selling as a small business?

Is your competition transforming to social selling in stealth mode?

We need more campaigns - Really?

What does the metaverse mean for the future of sales and business?

Articles for RevOps

Can social selling help me with RevOps?

How can RevOps and social selling increase the accuracy of my forecast?

Can RevOps and Social Selling provide me with a framework for predictable revenue

How to Make the Transition to Revenue Operations - RevOps

Articles for Sales leadership

10 reasons you get social selling all wrong

For fax sake at least know what social selling is before you dismiss it!

What is social selling?

Can I see which salespeople are contributing with social selling?

Can I get a consistent prospecting framework for managers with social selling?

Can I get complete visibility to measure and monitor each reps results with social selling?

Can I get accountability across my sales team for prospecting with social selling

Can I gain an effective prospecting framework with social selling?

Can cold calling and email marketing kill my business?

Can I measure our social selling project?

Can my lack of confidence of social be holding my team back?

Can I get the most from my sales navigator licenses with social selling?

Can I de-risk my pipeline with social selling?

Can my salespeople create content?

Can social selling create value for my clients?

Can I use prospect sequencing with social selling?

Can I build a social selling program or should I buy one?

Can my behaviour on social media be losing me business?

Can I run QBRs with social selling?

Can I increase deal velocity with social selling?

Can social selling help me sell, if everybody is on vacation?

Can social selling help me avoid attrition in sales teams?

Can social selling help with team selling?

Reading blogs won't transform your pipeline

You are the sum of all your digital handshakes

Why social selling isn't just marketing

The difference between LinkedIn training and social selling training

Can programmatic social selling sort my pipeline issues?

Will being part of the conversation on social generate me any revenue?

Can social selling help me with virtual selling?

Social media engagement - None of my sales team have time for it. Really?

Should my salespeople be making time to create social posts? Of course

Can Social posts create pipeline or opportunities? You bet!

There is a clear gap opening in business between those companies that have a pipeline problem and those that don't ...

How are you going to build pipeline and prospect now that all the low hanging fruit has gone?

Articles to support sales people - sales process and sales tips

Why your leadership is wrong when they tell you that to get more pipeline requires you to send more email and make more calls

Can social selling help with my discovery calls?

Is social selling inmailing people on Linkedin?

Can I unblock deals with social selling?

Can I get more meetings with VPs with social selling?

Can I get on more short lists with social selling?

Am I being outsold by my social selling competition?

Can social selling stop prospects from ghosting me?

Can I be a catalyst to change with my prospects with social

Can I influence the buyer's journey with social selling?

Can I optimise my selling time with social selling?

Can I gain a competitive advantage with social selling?

Why automation is a zero sum game

Can I get a predictable prospecting system with social selling?

Can I sell $1 Million deals with social selling?

Can I get headhunted for my next job with social selling?

Can I use prospect sequencing with social selling?

Can I use social selling if I have nothing to say?

Looking for hacks, maybe you shouldn't

How do I make the most of a slow summer sales period?

How do I sell social selling training to my boss?

Can I get invited to more client top table discussions with social selling?

What is the best way to influence my LinkedIn network?

Can I use social selling to sell into a territory?

Can I use social selling to grow pipeline within target accounts?

Can social selling help me if my companies website isn’t good enough?

Can social selling help me if my prospect list is out of date?

Can social selling help me if we are too expensive?

Do my SDRs need to become hybrid?

Can social selling help me if we are not market leader?

Can social selling help me get past gatekeepers?

I don't know you. I've never spoken to you. You've never acknowledged my existence. But you want me to help you!

What should you do if your leadership team is not social

Can my content, create action in my prospects with social selling?

Can social selling work for me as an SDR?

I need to do this Linkedin thing and I need to do it now

Should I do a post or an article on LinkedIn?

How to deal with depression in sales

Why prospecting today is about clicks and likes

Articles to support channel and third party selling

Can social selling help my channel partners sell more?

Our VP of Sales Just got 83 likes on a LinkedIn post, so that means we are social selling? No!

Should you outsource your social media?

Can I get banned from LinkedIn if somebody else manages my profile?

Articles for social procurement

Can I use social media in procurement and supply chain?

How social transformed procurement

Articles for the CFO and Finance

Accelerating digital skills is one of the top priorities for finance leaders

How to capitalise on the great resignation; to sell more and how to find and retain the best sales talent

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/