5 Ways Your Social Media Strategy Fails To Hit the Mark

Snippet – A poor social media strategy implementation is bound to deliver less than satisfactory outcome. Here’s what you can focus on to avoid this issue

Social media has seen steady growth in the past couple of years, and it intends to grow even more. Though social media has been prevalent since the 70s, it has only gained popularity in the last 15 years or so, courtesy the technological advancements in telecommunication.

Statistics suggest that there once were fewer than a billion social media users until 2010. This figure, by 2018, skyrocketed past 2.62 billion. Experts state that they will not be surprised if this number gets past 3 billion until 2021. Marketers have strongly believed in the power of social media all along. They have always been in favour of engaged following on social media. Social media marketing has proven to be so profitable, that in 2017 social media advertising revenue went above the $41 billion mark.

Knowing how imperative social media when it comes to running a business online, it disheartens you when your efforts seem to fail. No matter how you look at it, your social media strategy does not ideally bear you the results you would have wanted it to. There would be a lot of articles out there stating ways in which you can make your social media strategy work. But that, by itself, is not enough.

You need to know what is leading to your social media strategy to the depths of failure.

Why is your social media strategy failing to deliver?

1. Advertising is essential
Advertising and marketing, though different, are interdependent. Marketing, without an ounce of advertising, is definitely not going to yield any fruit. Irrespective of the size of your company, advertising is a must. You have to make your brand visible to audiences, and marketing alone cannot accomplish that. Social media advertising has its own share of benefits. It increases the chances of your social media marketing strategy clicking well. In the end, that surfaces as money well invested.

2. You don’t seem to have a proper plan in place
Planning is the most crucial part of every activity, in business and even otherwise. As long as you do not have a full-proof plan, chances are your strategy may not work. Allowing chaos to seep into your social media strategy will only wreak havoc – something you definitely would not want. You must have always felt the need for a concrete plan, but that idea in itself is mistaken. Situations are dynamic, why should your plan be concrete?

Devise a plan that is flexible and accommodative of immediate social media fluctuations. Have smaller, more achievable goals.“I want to grow my Facebook following to 2,500 in 5 weeks” or “I intend to generate a healthy buzz around my brand to 5,000 mentions per month by the end of the year.” Keep an eye out for trends and updates that may come in later, so that you get to ride the wave when it comes.

3. You need to be responsive
Doesn’t it frustrate you when you reach out to a particular service and they do not even budge a hearing ear towards you? It really gets annoying, right? That is exactly how your audience feels when they try to reach you on your social media platforms and hear back at all. Their reason to reach out to you publicly could be anything: it could be an innocent inquiry, or maybe an appreciation, or even negative feedback. Irrespective of what the nature of reaching out is, getting back to your audience creates a human touch.

Your brand does not seem all that robotic online. It is not possible, if you have a multinational brand, with millions of followers across all social media platforms, to reach out to each and every one of them. However, reaching out to as many as you can earn you the respect and followership. This way, your social media strategy stands a stronger chance of succeeding. A shining example of a very responsive social media presence is that of Sony PlayStation. They use this super cool technology – internet monitoring – to interact with users right when they mention PS4.

4. You ignore analytics
So what if analytics is not your strongest suit? It does not mean you cannot, or do not venture into it. Every strategy relies on a strong backing of arithmetic information. Incorporating various analytical tools that serve different analytical purposes helps you get an insight into the success of your campaign. You can estimate, accurately so, every aspect of your social media marketing through analytical tools. You can correctly estimate engagement and follower growth. Keeping track of analytical data is not enough. You need to figure out a way to process the information that comes in. Once you have a clear understanding of what’s working for you and what isn’t, you can devise better social media marketing strategies that has a higher chance of working this time around. You enter the arena more informed. And that is when the strategy works.

5. You don’t use adequate Call-to-action
You got to understand that the audience needs guidance. They need to be told what to do, in order for it to be done. Time is precious for them, and they won’t be sitting there figuring things out. Getting your audience engaged in your content can be hard. But if you give them enough call-to-actions, the outcome may fall in your favour. There are innumerable sources of engagement of there on the internet. You have to give your audience something that makes them opt for you over them. Irrespective of what form of content you are posting out, make sure you use a certain call-to-action no matter what.

“Like this article? Don’t like this article? Let us know in the comments down below.” This is a good way of letting your audience know that their opinion matters to you. If you pair it up by responding to their comment, you seal the deal for good.

Parting thoughts

The next time you wonder what is going wrong with your social media strategy, you can skim through the above, and find out for yourself. You would always have to have a vigilant demeanour when you approach social media strategies, considering how fickle it really is. One misstep and you are back a couple of blocks. Not entirely progressive for your brand then, is it?

Pay heed to the above pointers, and your social media strategy will soar remarkably.