3 Ways Social Media isn’t Working for Your Business

As a marketing agency, we think that social media is amazing, but it can be a bit of a mine field. A few months ago Procter & Gamble who own some of the most recognisable brands in the world [Fairy, Flash, Ariel, Head & Shoulders etc.] admitted that its targeted advertising on social media had been too narrow and specific. P&G is shifting its marketing away from Facebook advertising which allows businesses to target specific groups of consumers after finding out that this style of marketing didn’t always lead to the boost in sales you would expect it would.

This has got us here at Pledge Marketing thinking, as a marketing agency how does this effect us? Social media gives marketers more information and access to potential and current customers than ever before. Without proper planning and implementation it can at best be a waste of time. And at worst be a huge drain on money, time and resources.

So here are 3 common reasons as to why Social Media isn’t Working for you…

You aren’t “paying to play” on Facebook

As of July 2016 Facebook had 1.71 billion monthly active users and 1.03 billion daily active users. It used to be that all you needed to get people to notice your posts was a large following. But Facebook realising just how much brands were willing to pay for advertising to their users [Facebook earnt £13.06 billion in 2015 which works out as £9.15 per person] have changed how their platform works. By systematically decreasing the “free traffic” that a brand receives over time to 1%-2% of all traffic. For brands, this means that if you want people to notice your product or service on Facebook then you need an advertising budget. Thankfully even a small budget can create large returns for you.

You are “Push” marketing rather than “Pull” marketing

Most brands make the mistake of thinking that social media is just a quick and easy way to get their product  in front of a large number of potential customers. You are then disappointed when nobody wants to buy from you. The issue is that it is very easy now to click away, ignore, ban or report the business as spam. On social media, you need to pull people in by attracting them with something of value or use to them in your message and then they are more likely to become customers as they see that they either need or want the product or service that you are offering.

Your Social Media isn’t Working if you are trying to be everywhere

There are roughly 2.2 billion unique monthly visitors to social media platforms. With this kind of traffic it is understandable that a lot of brands try and put themselves onto as many social media platforms as possible. Being on 1 or 2 platforms and committing time and energy to being consistent. This will be of far more value than spreading yourself thinly across a wide array of platforms. [hint: the best platforms for you are the platforms that your ideal customer is on]

If your Social Media isn’t Working then we can help. Here at Pledge Marketing we know the value that social media can play in the success of a business. We invest the time and the energy in working with you to develop an effective social media strategy. Be it the creation of social media pages for your business, research, and planning for a one-off campaign or total social media management including research, planning, implementation and analysis our experts can help you to deliver better service and greater value to your audience.

Get in touch and let us have a chat about how your Social Media isn’t Working and how we can make it work for you.