In a 2017 report conducted by Smart Insights in collaboration with Clutch, more than 52% of businesses surveyed said that social media has positively influenced their revenue and sales. Among the many benefits of social media marketing, it delivers cost-effectiveness, improved brand awareness and customer engagement. And we don't mean the paid kind! Although, one social networking platform can differ from another, you're bound to encounter some challenges along the way.
Here are the top social media challenges of 2018, according to a recent study released by The Manifest:
1. Not enough human and financial resources (26%)
2. No formal strategy (24%)
3. Building followers and influencers (24%)
4. Tracking results (17%)
5. Keeping up with changing features (4%)
6. Selecting channels (3%)
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Overcoming Social Media Marketing Challenges
1. Develop a Social Media Content Strategy
It's important to map out your social media strategy according to what works best for your business. Start by testing different platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to see if they are a good match for your kind of business. Then set your goals and create compelling content that brings results.
When you're building a strategy, you can experiment with one to two social media platforms instead of creating multiple platforms at once. This way, you'll see which platform works best for you so you can focus on perfecting your voice and strategy on them.
You can even experiment with different types of posts on each channel to see what kind of content works well. Check out our previous blog post for strategies and examples on how to do A/B testing.
2. Assess Your Social Media ROI
As Buffer Social puts it, "Social media ROI is what you get back from all the time, effort and resources you commit to social."
Your social media ROI will not only be different depending on the channel you use to promote your brand, services or products, but will be based on your goals too. Do your goals include increasing brand awareness, customer loyalty and satisfaction, or leads? The list goes on. Your specific goals relate back to the social media strategy plan.
To assess your business’s social media ROI, you need to determine which social media platforms are bringing in the most revenue and where you can improve or change your goals.
3. Increase Organic Reach
Competition is relatively high on social media news feeds, especially during peak times. It's not easy for businesses to capture their audience's attention. Sometimes, they need a little help from paid advertisements. However, you don't need to spend lots of time devising a Facebook marketing plan, for example, only to gain very little traffic from it.
Simply stay consistent with various content types (blogs, shares, campaigns, etc) you're posting and schedule them frequently. Remember, you're building a relationship with your audience and customers to maximize organic potential.
4. Create Successful Content by Keeping Up with Trends
Different platforms result in different types of content, so figuring out how to develop engaging content for each is important. If you want to produce ROI, it's a good idea to stay current on the latest trends and what makes people tick online.
We understand you're busy running a business or hustling in your career. So we recommend following social media marketing influencers and observing their tactics to get ideas and stay in the know on marketing trends.
Got a LinkedIn Company Page?
If you're not making LinkedIn the hub of your brand's social media strategy, you might fall behind in digital marketing and branding. As a professional platform, LinkedIn can grow your brand's content marketing strategy and attract top talent too. Want to create a compelling company page? We have the guide for you!
