Social Media Marketing in T&T- Why Yours Isn’t Working

With the exception of online shopping, garbage disposal, and first world governance, Trini’s have never been slouches in adopting international practices, one of which is online marketing. Post-pandemic, businesses across our twin-island nation now live or die by its power to connect with their audience, especially via social platforms. But for many, it’s either not working, or not working optimally.

Online marketing is not just social media promotion, though it has become synonymous with it, nay, it’s much broader. Search engine optimization (SEO), Email Marketing, and of course your website, are all tools under this umbrella. But to Trinis, online marketing is social media, and many frustratingly say ‘de ting not wukkin’.

First, who’s managing your social media? Are you doing it yourself as the business owner, or are have you assigned it to a staff member or department? Or, have you outsourced to a provider in T&T? And if so, is it still one person doing the managing, or multiple from a team? These are important questions, as it can trace to the source of the problem. And believe it or not, the one(s) managing may not be totally responsible . That external provider, be it a single person or a team, can be fully experienced with a stellar track record, and yet have a social media program that under-performs.

As the business owner, you’re won’t be happy. As a Trini business owner, it’s ‘Gawd ah go ded!’ and you have to blame somebody. If it’s you, you can’t fire yourself. If you think it’s you and accept your limitations, then you hire a professional, either in-house or outsourced. If it’s your staff or team you bawl them up, and if it’s an external company, you bawl them up too or look for someone else.

So believe it or not, the number one reason is not executional— it’s actually conceptual. Get ready for a cold, hard truth: social media marketing has nothing to do with digital technology, it’s only one tool among many. A tool to apply tried and true, fundamental marketing principles. The same core principles that were being applied long before this new fangled internet thing. It built huge local and global companies via print, radio and TV.

My friends, the tools have changed, but not these principles, and they will remain even after you get the chip implanted in your head or under your skin, which, as you well know, is already here.

Now this article is not a tutorial on the marketing basics, there are tons of tutorials and guides online, but the very broad generalization of the basics are:

• Knowing & defining who you are
• Knowing and defining what you do
• Knowing and defining your audience
• Figuring the optimal mix of tools to reach them
• Setting measurable, attainable, realistic goals

Doesn’t look like much does it, telling you what you already know? Yet many are still getting it wrong. Then again, getting it wrong may not even matter when the implanted chips are used for mind control. In that case, you can still market to those without the chip implants…

Marketing is about STRATEGY, content creation is about CONTENT. Whoever is managing your social media maybe doing a bang-up job with static images using Photoshop, Illustrator, Canva, and editing video, but if they are not part of a well thought out and cohesive strategy, then it’s just posting of shiny, new objects daily for oohs and aahs.

This is a mistake many businesses make when they post ads seeking graphic designersslashcontent creators to manage their social media. Though the job description is technically correct, there’s an innate expectation of some strategy formulation. However, such strategy is usually for short-term campaigns to increase sales, and not part of a long term strategy that encompasses marketing principles like branding and positioning.

You think the solution is more traffic but that’s not true. Raw numbers do not make make for more sales. You boost a post and reach 20K more people thinking it should convert to more sales, which sometimes never come. There is traffic and there is ‘qualified traffic’. Qualified traffic are visitors who are more likely to convert or take your desired actions.

This is a concept quickly learnt and implemented back in the day when Forward Multimedia started in 2011. Pricing for web design was not published on the site and when visitors called, 90% of the time it was the first question asked. What followed was a nice long discussion about the proposed website, but they knew well they weren’t going to call back. So that was nipped that in the bud, and pricing was published loud and clear thereafter. Calls were fewer, but the calls that came were qualified traffic and the only discussion was about the project.

Raw traffic is a vanity metric if that’s what makes you happy. It’s a very useful indicator and social goal, but it has to connect with your business goals. If your bottom line is not growing commensurate with the reach, comments, engagements etc., that you are proudly tracking, then what’s the point?

A critical reason why online marketing efforts may fall short is the failure to prepare for the influx of traffic by being unable to effectively convert leads. Without the necessary infrastructure and strategies in place to convert these leads into paying customers, you actually squander valuable opportunities for growth, and may even hurt future growth as well, you know, in the ‘fool me once…’ scenario.

Compelling landing pages, intuitive user experiences, targeted follow-up processes, and personalized messaging… such conversion optimization plays a pivotal role in maximizing the return on investment (ROI) from online marketing efforts. And that’s not a term typically bandied about by Trinis- the concept of ROI; we mostly think the solution is throwing money at it. You must prioritize not only the attracting of traffic but also implementing robust conversion strategies to capitalize fully on the potential of your promotion.

So translating the above to English, here’s an example you can relate to because you’ve experienced it many times: an online promotion you see on Facebook sends you to the physical store bright and early Monday morning, and first person you meet in the store is some yampie-eyed salesperson looking like they now wake up with their face ‘fole-up’ like a dhalphurie. And they ‘eh know nutten’ about that item on sale you saw online. You think they earned a lifelong customer?

So there’s a nice sale on air conditioners, $2,500 TTD installed the Instagram ad says. Good offer, the place so hot these days in T&T. Guys came, took off shoes and came in house, were nice and friendly, perfect installation and you cool as a cucumber. Two days later, air conditioner break down, you hot under the collar, while you also get hot under the collar because company not friendly, and is hard luck pardner while they give you the run around.

That hand-off from the faceless, often anonymous online interaction to physical dealing with the real people behind their online personas is a critical component of your marketing efforts. And sad to say, in T&T they often don’t match.

The first two examples were offline, physical examples, but there are online hand-off fumbles as well that are just as harmful. One typical is the call to action button link from a social media ad, where the Shop Now or Learn More button leads to nowhere. By ‘nowhere’ I’m referring to a a link that is not in sync with its origin; most of the time the link is to a website’s homepage that has no info related to the ad. It’s akin to asking a salesperson for an item and they tell you to go ‘in the back’, and not end of aisle 3, top shelf… sigh.

People go to school for a marketing degree because it’s that complex. Sure, without formal training you can still do on your own with your own experience and intelligence. Like all things in life, there’s only so much you can do before you need to call on a professional, or just someone who knows more than you, no matter how savvy you are (or think you are).

Bear in mind that online marketing is a different set of mechanics than the traditional offline. Yes the principles remain as they have been for centuries, but the tools are new. It’s the same reason why you can’t take your car to the old neighborhood mechanic like you used to. What’s he going to do, change your points and clean the carburetor? Youngsters, you even know what those terms are? That limits the probability of success when the strategy is winging it; and it’s even lower for the Trini strategy of ‘tryin ah ting’.

Healthy regard for what your competitors are doing is plain good business, but don’t assume what’s working for them will work for you. But don’t also think that what’s working for them will not work for you. As they say, ‘Gopaul luck is not ‘Seepaul luck’. The point is, don’t assume anything; everything is on the table till you evaluate the best mix… and don’t leave it to luck either.

I’ve seen business owners so fixated on what competitors are doing that they almost want to copy them wholesale. Again in Trini, ‘it doh wuk so!’

The supreme triumvirate would be Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and that’s again telling you what you already know. YouTube is definitely a big player, but these days the dominant format is short-form video reels. You Tube Shorts however, is not the go-to platform. When creators create reels, it’s mostly for Instagram and TikTok. Sometimes it’s for TikTok first, which is why you see a lot of TikTok watermarked videos on IG.

Such cross-platform posting though convenient may not necessarily be optimal. Creating a single video and posting on Facebook Reels, Instagram Reels, TikTok and You Tube Shorts can either be efficient or lazy.

Face it… pun intended… there are no challengers to Facebook; specifically, no direct competitors. TikTok and YouTube can’t lure marketers to use their platforms exclusively, because they are not similar, Believe me, if the Coca-Cola that is Facebook had a rival as it’s Pepsi, it would be in big trouble.

As you may have noticed, organic performance on Facebook is an uphill battle; to reach your audience you have to pay, and I’m sure one has nothing to do with the other. The platforms also appeal to different audiences regardless on how broad their targets are. We often hear that Facebook is for ‘ole’ people, that the younger crowd are on Instagram and TikTok, and that’s generally true. But you have to do your own platform research to determine which to use and how, to achieve your objectives… er, you have ‘objectives’ right?

Businesses use ‘Influencers’ with the belief that their followers will, well… follow. It’s more hope than belief, presuming that some followers will likely be influenced from their confidence in the influencer’s recommendation, or just follow like sheep even if the influencers says jump off this cliff.

In Trinidad & Tobago, ‘Influencing’ is a growing industry with influencers left and right, and are like celebrities even. Many are real experts in their field, so have an inherent basis to wield their influence. An easy example would be make-up and skin care. Some are not trained experts, but develop a following based on their skill gained from experience. And some are not experts in anything at all, yet develop a following from their own personality and brand that exudes trust in what they say.

Bottom line, put influencers in the the same bag of tools and evaluate accordingly. Trinis are quick to see though a bought and paid for endorsement under the guise of an objective ‘review’, and just as quick to call out same. For heaven’s sake, not every roti shop has the best roti in the country!

It’s been the trend for a while, but from last year (2023) to now, it’s really intensified in Trinidad & Tobago. These days we’re seeing all manner of video, with individuals, businesses, throwing the kitchen sink at a media that’s apparently a panacea, i.e. the magic potion to lure the market. Somewhere in there, there must be strategies, or loose plans, as they seem to be working, as more and more keep churning out.

By no means is this to knock the efforts; many are genuinely working, and do seem to have structure and thought behind them. However, it’s a very mixed bag, with results across the full spectrum

It’s a fact that organic reach isn’t as it used to be on Facebook and Instagram. Though video is the post-format of choice these days, unless you have an exceptional video, and still that may not even be enough. Case in point: at the time of writing this article (May 2024), we created and posted a client video the same time on all three (3) platforms- Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. In the first couple of days, the video went viral on TikTok crossing 100K views while FB and IG barely crossed 1K. As of writing this article, the TikTok video is at 272K while the FB, IG languishes at 2K.

What can we learn from this? That Meta, i.e. owner of Facebook, Instagram, is making organic reach difficult even for an exceptional video, and you cannot depend on organic reach to get you anywhere. Regardless, your goal is to always make an exceptional video to have a fighting chance, but be prepared to pay to reach a wider audience on Meta.

Per the above performance of our client’s TikTok video, we were cautious about the viral response even though interactions via comments were also off the charts— would the online activity translate into actual business? And you were reminded before, raw traffic does not necessarily mean more sales. However in this case the online performance translated into offline activity for the client to the point that the staff was actually overwhelmed with the response.

So TikTok in Trinidad & Tobago is definitely worth the effort if you’re not getting the results on the other platforms. It has a much higher organic reach than Facebook and Instagram. Obviously you don’t just throw up a video and pray (and that’s true for all platforms); make a good go at it.

Like influencing, social media services are also a growing industry in Trinidad & Tobago. The typical packaging is a certain number of posts, graphics, videos etc. for a monthly fee, and so heavily marketed now it’s almost commoditized. However, again, the fundamental principle of social media marketing is MARKETING, so a deep understanding of marketing principles not only necessary, but the lynchpin. Businesses often confuse social media savviness, i.e. the ‘how’, with the ‘why’.

GPT-4 is OpenAI’s most advanced system, ostensibly producing safer and more useful responses. The claim is GPT-4 is more creative and collaborative than ever before. It can generate, edit, and iterate with users on creative and technical writing tasks, such as composing songs, writing screenplays, or learning a user’s writing style.

You see ChatGPT’s footprint everywhere in T&T’s online marketing space, and sometimes the whole foot itself with the entire generated text pasted wholesale without checking if it fully matches the messaging context. A dead giveaway are the emojis and hashtags and the perfectly written text without an ounce of Trini vibe.

ChatGPT and it’s ilk are very useful tools, and every marketer worth their salt should be using. Yes, absolutely use it, but for heaven’s sake, use judiciously and properly. And the way AI is going now, we’re definitely headed toward the full dystopian nightmare of a future just as prophesized.

Everything rising, even the rent, but not your sales and customers. Generally, the economic outlook of Trinidad & Tobago is not great, many may think there is nothing positive to look forward to. Worldwide is more of the same; wars abound- Ukraine, Palestine, Sudan, in a geo-political race to the bottom.

But we live here in sweet T&T. In the morning you can go down the road and buy a doubles, eat it on the spot while you ‘ole blag’ with your pardner. Weekend you can take a dip in Maracas, enjoy a good bake and shark and leave business for Monday. No matter how rough business is, in T&T bredda, you not going to starve.