What Marketers are Doing Wrong With Social Media

John Chambers, CEO of Cisco, delivered a keynote to 25,000 attendees at the huge Cisco Live conference earlier this month. During his speech he stated “Forty percent of businesses in this room, unfortunately, will not exist in a meaningful way in 10 years.” Why? The answer is simple. Digital. Those that turn their companies into digital, tech-versions of themselves will be the survivors. Chambers added that, “70% of companies would “attempt” to go digital but only 30% of those would succeed.” Yikes.

So, how do you ensure your company is still standing strong in a decade’s time? Start by properly building that digital version of your business through social media. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

Change your mindset about social

So many marketers consider social media an afterthought rather than a priority. Most haphazardly reverse-engineer their marketing campaigns into their socials, when they actually should have mapped out their social strategy as part of their initial plan. It’s called social media strategy for a reason. It should be a primary concern for achieving marketing goals, not an afterthought.

Involve other departments

When mapping out your social strategy for specific marketing campaigns, loop in other departments. Make your sales teams aware of upcoming specials or online promotions. Tell client success stories by keeping in contact with customer-facing employees. Share a profound quote from the CEO. Feeling really feisty? Get Product Management and R&D involved with an online product roadmap. TeamworkPM has an awesome one that allows clients to not only suggest improvement ideas, but to see the progress in bringing those ideas to fruition. This results in influential customers becoming brand advocates and thought leaders for your product. And they aren’t even on the payroll.

Follow the 80/20 rule

Only 20% of the content you share should be promotional. Why? Because it’s about providing value, not talking about you, you, you. No one wants to be sold to all the time, especially existing clients and customers. Pushy, sales-related posts will only make your followers un-follow, un-like and generally tune out. Instead, make 80% of your posts interesting to your audience. How? If you are in marketing, you should know what keeps them up at night. Post content that answers those burning questions – share curated news, inspirational quotes, questions, retweets, images, comics, etc. Don’t forget about industry events, especially those with which your company is involved.

Make content fit the platform

Sadly, it’s not one-size fits all when it comes to social media marketing. I know it’s so easy to post one piece of content to multiple platforms simultaneously, but doing so will negatively affect the quality and ROI of your efforts. For example, with only 140 characters, why push a lengthy Facebook post to Twitter? The content will be cut off and it won’t make sense to your audience. Plus, it’s obvious to your Twitter followers that you’re basically phoning it in. Follow the basic rules for each platform, including character restrictions, image sizes and hashtag usage.

Turn boring into brilliant

It’s important to be creative, even if your topic is not. Entertain your audience – it’s ok to be funny! If you are struggling to come up with ideas on your own, then brainstorm ideas with your team. If you’re still stuck, invest in an agency that can expertly create new and innovative ways to engage with your audience. (Yes, that was our blatant pitch, but hey, this IS what we do, after all.)

Add social media marketing to your budget

Social media marketing, just like any other marketing, requires not only monetary investments but time investments as well. If you simply don’t have the time to do it right, then outsource to a team who can.

Create social media goals

Strategies are created to achieve certain goals, but most businesses have none when it comes to social media! First decide what you are trying to achieve. Are you simply trying to build an audience? Are you trying to obtain leads? Once your ideals have been pinpointed, attach realistic numbers and timeframes to each. Determine the aligning key performance indicators you want to track for each platform so that you can quantitatively measure the results. Keep close track of performance and use the data to determine what’s working and what’s not.

Have realistic expectations

Overnight success, you will not have (as Yoda would say). It takes time, effort and consistency to build the right audience in the right way. Sometimes you might be lucky with a viral post, like the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. But more often than not, you’ll build better awareness and a more engaged following through authenticity and hard work.

Do you feel ready to be among the 30% of companies who succeed in digital? We are. Give us a shout if you think you need some help. That’s what we’re here for! 🙂