We all use social media today. Some of us more than others and not all for the same purpose, but whether you\’re an individual, a SME or doing it on behalf of a global organisation, it\’s almost guaranteed you\’re checking into at least one social network regularly.
But whilst being active on social media should be a given today, for businesses, we so often hear they\’re struggling to see any real return from their investment, be it a time or financial one.
The good news is that in the majority of cases, this can be resolved quickly and easily – and here we give three reasons why you\’re not likely seeing the results you expect from social media.
1. You\’re expecting the unlikely
One of the key reasons you\’re likely to be disappointed with social media activity is that you\’re expecting things from it that are never going to happen.
If you use Twitter, there\’s no doubt you can use it to drive sales and if you use Facebook, it can be a great way to increase the reach of your messaging (and vice versa). However, Twitter is never going to be your only method of generating sales and Facebook shouldn\’t be the only marketing tool you invest in.
As with any investment, your expectations need to be realistic and attainable – if you expect the impossible, unless something miraculous happens, you\’re always going to be disappointed.
2. You\’re selling, not engaging
The clue\’s in the title with social media – you need to be social to see any real results.
By all means sell, promote and market, but if you think this is what you need to do in every single update you put out, you\’re going to find you do nothing but alienate your audience.
Instead, stick to the 80 / 20 rule, where 80% of the time you\’re talking about things that are of interest to your audience and 20% of the time take more of a commercial view. At all times, however, be sure to engage – respond to messages, retweet tweets from others and +1 updates on Google+ you like. It might sound simple, but the more you do this, the more successful your social strategy will be.
3. You\’re not delivering the right activity
As we mentioned above, you need to be engaging more than selling, but this is only one aspect of the activity that needs to be delivered.
Whilst there\’s a lot to take into consideration, there are two components you need to keep in mind, with the first being you have to be active on the right networks – Twitter and Facebook are the most obvious, but what about Google+, Instagram and Pinterest? Sure, they may not be suitable for everyone, but they could prove to drive a huge number of conversions for many.
Secondly, you have to be active to see results – and this doesn\’t just mean putting up one tweet every week. The volume does depend on you as an organisation, your industry and your audience, but daily updates to some degree are recommended.
It\’s important to keep in mind there\’s a huge amount to take into account with social media and as such, there\’s also a variety of reasons why you aren\’t seeing the results you expect. However, those mentioned here are a great place to start and more often than not will help you on the path to seeing the results you need from social media.