A few weeks ago, I spoke with the marketing manager of a bike company.
His strategy was simple: Facebook and Instagram Ads, 24/7.
The result? Budget burned. Almost zero sales.
And he’s not the only one.
A small tour operator told me: “I spend €1,000 a month on social media ads… but nothing comes back.”
Do you know what that reminds me of? The story of the drunk looking for his keys under the streetlamp. Not because he lost them there… but because that’s where the light is.
Here’s the truth: in 2015, putting everything into META worked. Today, it’s just the easiest way to fool yourself into “doing marketing.”
Want real results with Facebook and Instagram? You need huge budgets.
And as soon as you stop paying, you disappear. Nobody remembers you.
Why?
Because technology has advanced enormously, but people haven’t changed that much: we’re afraid of being scammed, and on social media it’s increasingly hard to tell who’s honest from the worst fraudsters.
The solution is to build trust, which means:
- Being present on reliable and credible channels.
- Creating real relationships with your local community.
- Partnering with those who already have your customers’ trust.
- Being genuinely present, where and when people make their choices.
Why am I telling you all this?
Because in a couple of weeks, the first episodes of our podcast “From Bike to Business”, dedicated to the bicycle economy, will be released. And if you’ve built a “wow” promotion for a product or service without spending piles of money on META, you might be the right person to share your story with our audience.
All you have to do is contact us and tell us your story.
In the meantime, happy riding.
Paolo
