One of the biggest concerns for most marketers is that the tactics they’re using aren’t working - and are actually detrimental to their wider marketing strategy.
As we approach 2020 it’s only fair that you evaluate all of your marketing activities and each element of your marketing strategy and budget to decipher if there are any drains on resources.
Could social media be one of them? Honestly, yes.
You should ask the following questions to work out if social media is, in fact, not a fruitful element of your marketing strategy…
01. Conduct a social media report
Don’t just browse the on-platform Twitter analytics or Facebook Insights, create a custom social media marketing report that includes the core metrics for your business. Are you trying to drive traffic, leads, or sales conversions?
Also, include key metrics that are impacted by your social media efforts - what about traffic acquisitions - how much of your traffic is coming from social, according to Google Analytics, and which social platform is most successful at driving said traffic?
Most importantly, act upon the findings in this report. If it’s proven that 3 hours a week on Twitter is too much time and money (salary) wasted, then spend it on a more effective marketing channel (do a wider marketing activity review).
02. Devaluing your company presence
It’s easy as marketers to be left frustrated by waiting for an external agency to provide brand assets or on-brand graphics for social media, but it’s important that you don’t carve your own path that negatively impacts your presence.
If you really can’t wait for your designer to provide you with the right brand assets, or you don’t have access tot hem anymore, do the following, at least:
- Keep it simple
- Use your brand font
- Use your brand colours
- Include a resized version of your logo
A great place to start for design support is Canva, but you should also enquire about your brand guidelines and brand assets as one of the first steps of taking over your company’s social media presence.
03. Don’t rely on it for things it can’t achieve
A lot of marketers expect digital marketing, particularly social media, to reap dividends it simply cannot do, either because:
- It‘s not set up correctly
- Isn’t being given the proper time and attention
- There isn’t enough budget to ‘do it properly’
As we look towards 2020 it’s clear there is an upturn in social media successes when marketers don’t put all of their eggs in one basket with organic efforts. You need to incorporate paid social media activity and pay close attention to how your social media ties into print campaigns, remarketing advertising and your overall brand presence.
Is social media right for your organisation?
- If you can’t give it enough time, attention and budget, as well as ensuring its set up and run ‘correctly’, stop using social media.
- If you cannot find the time or resource to ensure your messaging and graphics are on brand, stop using social media.
- If you cannot truly prove that it is adding to your brand awareness, increasing traffic and/or leads, stop using social media.
It really is that simple, but because it’s so simple, people fear pulling the plug on their social media activities - “Everyone else is doing it, so we have to”, right? Wrong.
If it doesn’t work for you, don’t use it. Reevaluate it and create a new approach if you really can identify potential with your business’ social presence, but don’t waste time using the channel, if your audience isn’t there, isn’t engaging with your posts, and it isn’t currently gaining any traffic, awareness or momentum for your company.
