5 REASONS YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY ISN’T WORKING

‘Social media just doesn’t work for us’. We can’t begin to count the amount of times we’ve heard businesses say this about their attempts at introducing a social media strategy.

Do you know what ‘working’ looks like? Are you expecting instant leads as opposed to nurturing your audience and creating brand advocates?

There are many reasons why your efforts might be going unrewarded, but let’s start with the most common.

1. Your social channels are overly self-promotional

   It’s very easy to spend too much time talking about yourself on social media, after all it’s what you know. But there’s such a thing as too much self-promotion. Your audience by now will understand what you do, why you do it and what makes you the right choice – they might even be customers already. Therefore, it’s a good idea to think about what they might want to see, what they might want to read and what’s of interest to them. That’s what you should be pushing out. Make your content relevant to your audience, not yourselves.

2. You’re using the wrong social media channels

   Are you focusing on the wrong platform and struggling to find your audience? You should focus on the sites that are more relevant to your business. If you’re a B2B company, perhaps focus your efforts on LinkedIn and Twitter. If you’re a consumer focused B2C company, you may find Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube a better fit.
   If you’re not sure, try using a range of platforms to begin with and then continue using the sites that you get the most engagement, traffic and leads.

3. You are not being authentic

   Authenticity in social media marketing is not only really important when it comes to connecting with your audience, but it’s also not that common. Many businesses try too hard and it’s transparent – users are savvier than ever and they know when you’re not being genuine.
   Rather than trying to sell to your audience, talk to them instead. Why not humanise your brand by making your posts more personal – show the people behind the business. Reminding your audience that your business is ultimately made up of people who enjoy what they do, and more importantly people who want to help, is only going to increase the chances of them becoming and remaining customers. After all, as the old adage says – people buy from people.

4. You don’t have enough fresh content

   Whilst you don’t want social media to consume your everyday, you should invest some time into making sure you have enough fresh content on your site to hold your audience’s attention – and indeed to inform your output on social media.
   Not only that, it’s also important to stay relevant. Follow the news, listen to what your audience is discussing and reflect that in your posts. It’s also important to try to put aside some time to involve yourself in some in-the-moment activity. This not only helps keep your content fresh but it also helps you to look authentic and responsive, something your audience will value. Why not try going one step further and offer your audience the opportunity to join in moments of your own using live video?

5. You’re expecting results too soon

   Something we see all too often is businesses starting to use social media for a few weeks, maybe a few months, before giving up.
   Without investing heavily in paid adverts, social media isn’t going to provide you with the instant gratification you seek. It’s something you have to invest time in, building and nurturing an audience, listening to them and creating content that interests, excites and engages. That’s when you really begin to reap the rewards of your effort, and in turn, learn a lot about your target demographics and what they’re looking for.

If you want help creating a robust social media strategy, why not talk to us and discover how social media can work for your business.