This is the eternal frustration that many face on Social Media.
You have the followers. You have the engagement.
Yet nobody is buying and you see them buy from someone else.
I’ll be honest. I’ve ran my social media marketing business for 16 years; have worked with some of the biggest brands in the world; have 900 reviews; a loyal following.
And then occasionally I see followers buy from Jill – the unqualified, inexperienced social media marketer who set up 2 weeks ago and has no track record of delivering results.
I’m like does being qualified, experienced and having a track record of delivering results count for nothing in 2026.
If I’m feeling this, then you 100% are.
So here are Why Your followers are watching your content and buying from someone else
PEOPLE SEE YOU AS A FREE RESOURCE
Everything you post offers huge value.
You might as well change your middle name to “Value” as you’re 10/10 on truly helping your community out.
But there’s a problem here.
The audience just see you as a free resource. An extension from Google, Wikipedia (or as it’s 2026 Chat GPT).
The audience are going to keep following whilst you give everything away for free and they’ll buy from those that tease and hint, but offer 10% of what you do value wise.
I know I’m guilty of offering too much value at times.
I’ve published 711 blogs and post content every single day on social media that offers educational advice on marketing.
The trick with moving on from being seen as a free resource is in the next point
YOU DON’T DEMONSTRATE CHANGE
What is the difference between following you and using your services?
You need to demonstrate the change that people see when they work with you.
That often comes in the form of Case studies, reviews, testimonials.
This week we’ve posted
- That we reached 60 million views on Google
- A business that reached 85,000 local people from one of our posts
- A testimonial from a local professional services firm
- Photos from one of our sell out events
On LinkedIn which is pretty much our 24/7 365 shop window to working with is the about section states
SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING – RESULTS
- A professional services firm won a contract with Coca Cola after our training
- A hospitality business reached 20,000+ people in one post a week after our training
- An e-commerce business gained high profile press coverage after our training
- A professional services firm reached 43,000 people on LinkedIn after training
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT – RESULTS
- A printer won £15,000 of business with 7 days of working with us
- A workwear company regularly gets 1000’s of £££s worth of business from Instagram
- A retail outlet attracts 6/10 customers in their retail store from social media
- An Altrincham restaurant attracts over 80 new customers a month from Social Media
- A tradesman wins £5000-15,000 of business a week from social media
They all paint a picture of what happens when people work with us.
We have over 900 reviews from happy customers which show that shift that happens when people spend half a day with us 121.
Take a look at your last 7 posts on Social Media and if there isn’t some form of social proof you need to up your game.
THERE’S NO SENSE OF URGENCY
Often as business owners we talk up the benefits of working with us.
Have you ever said what happens if business owners don’t work with you now?
Or if they delay working with you for a few months or a year?
We did this back in an old blog where we clearly stated what a business had lost over 4 months by not working with
TIME SPENT
1 Hour a Day
7 Days a Week
4 Months
RESULTS
2500+ followers
No Business
JUST THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A WHILE
112 Hours spent
£3360 worth of billable hours spent (based on an average of £30 per hour)
No Business
They could have changed all of that by coming to us 4 months earlier.
THE AUDIENCE DON’T FEEL HEARD
Posting is just a small part of social media management.
It’s community that truly takes the time on social media.
Listening to the comments and responding accordingly.
Hitting the reply button on stories
Going on to the feed and showing real genuine insights rather than just a like or thumbs up emoji.
It can feel overwhelming at times and you can’t possibly respond to every post in your feed – but if you show a little love each day the love 100% comes back,
The fastest way to grow your local business is to actively support other local business. It is really that simple.
YOU’RE NOT IN THE SAME ROOM AS THEM
What you do offline really makes a difference.
People buy from people and they’re more likely to buy from you on social media if they know you from the real world.
We run 2 different networking events in Altrincham – Alex & His Sisters / Smiley Happy People.
Turning up to the event is only the 1st part. You also need to
- Sit at the table and have a conversation
- Keep in touch between each event on social media
- Book in 121’s with people you really gel with
- Come back to the event each month rather than one off visit
Someone who networks in the right rooms as well as commit to social media will convert followers to customers 10x quicker than social media alone.
YOU’RE NOT GIVING THEM A CLEAR NEXT STEP
They’re following.
They’re ready to buy.
But they don’t know how to buy or what to do next.
At the bottom of this blog you’ll see a clear call to action of what people need to do next for Social Media Training or Social Media Management.
You need to be clear on social media what you want people to do – is it DM / Email / Click on the link in bio / Sign Up for the webinar?
The British don’t like to be sales-ey but it needs to be clear what to do next.
YOU’RE TOO GENERIC
You are not for everyone.
Ai is going to kill your business with generic content.
You think AI is the saviour and that you are saving so much time.
Prompt suggestions are going to kill your business with generic content.
When you finally realise that those words that sound like everyone else are actually the nail in your businesses coffin.
Being average will only attract results.
We know you didn’t set up your business and risk everything to be average.
So start being very clear about who you want to work with and then produce content for them in your own voice.
YOU’RE INCONSISTENT
In many ways you’re ticking every other box.
But you’re inconsistent.
One week you’re on fire and you post every day.
And then silence for 6 weeks.
And that repeats.
Your followers are consuming the content of the competition when you disappear and that’s when you’re losing them.
Out of sight. Out of mind.
YOU’RE TOO CASUAL
I worry about this one a lot myself.
I’ve worked with some of the biggest brands in the world from the BBC, NHS, Manchester City, Costa Coffee, National Trust, Selfridges and many many more.
And there I am on Instagram posting a selfie of myself running.
Or doing a jokey monthly post about National Awareness Days.
Or Tweeting about the gig I saw last night.
I’m at a different position than most being well established – but it’s often at the back of my mind whether people for those that have paid for the £1000 personal branding shoot.
You have to decide if your customers want casual and relatable or whether they want slick and polished.
NEED HELP WITH SOCIAL MEDIA FOR YOUR BUSINESS
Looking for authentic ways to grow your social media
Chat to us about Social Media Marketing for YOUR organisation , so we can better understand YOU and what will grow your organisation
We can only find out what is unique to your business by chatting with you
Look at our Social Media Training and Social Media Management services
We offer Social Media Training on
* LinkedIn
* Instagram
* Facebook
* TikTok
* Blogging
We can do this
* 121
* Corporate Workshops
* Group Workshops
* Face to Face or Via Zoom
Please call Alex on 07806774279 or email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk
