9 Reasons Social Media Campaigns Fail [With Solutions]

9 Reasons Social Media Campaigns Fail [With Solutions]

People often approach social media campaigns in a lackluster manner. But social media marketing campaigns are much more than making connections, liking posts, and sharing a handful of branded content every week.

9 Reasons Social Media Campaigns Fail [With Solutions]

Utilized the right way, social media has the power to completely transform your marketing strategy. The first step to creating effective social media campaigns is revisiting exactly what worked AND what didn’t in your past campaigns.

Why are your social media campaigns failing?

So your campaign has ended and the results are not what you were expecting. It’s time to dig deep into what might have gone wrong. We want to share 9 common reasons why social media campaigns fail, in hopes of helping your next one succeed.

1) Lacked consistency with timing of posts

It is extremely important to give your followers something to count on. Let them get used to receiving info at the same times each day.

Once you are able to publish consistently, your readers will see you as a resource. Building this trust is crucial to strong relationships.

2) Failed to utilize the right tools

The tools included in various channels such as Twitter and Facebook are your friend. Two of the most popular features are the “Pin to Top” feature on Facebook and Twitter and also the call-to-action (CTA) button on Facebook.

The “Pin to Top” feature allows you to choose one of your posts that will stay at the top of your page until you unpin it and replace it with another story.

Check out this post on the Top 10 Social Media Tools For 2018.

Facebook CTAs enable you to promote various options such as Sign Up, Contact Us, Send Message, and Follow Us, to name a few.

There are also great platforms, which I encourage you to try, that are available to help manage your accounts. Some of the best for scheduling and managing are Hootsuite, Buffer, and SocialOomph.

3) Did not show your personality

People do business with people. Make sure that your social media accounts represent your personality. You will see below how to align your content with your channel.

Don’t be afraid to share behind-the-scenes pictures or posts from employee parties. You could even create a fun series of posts to keep people entertained. We are currently posting pictures of our Elf on the Shelf, Emma, in ways that we hope make people laugh.

4) Missed the boat with target market research

You always determine your target market when you are creating your new social media campaigns. But many fail to create social media campaign messaging that targets their market.

Instead, they just pump out relevant content, hoping that people will enjoy it and engage in it. Take a step back and keep your target market in mind when you are posting to your social media accounts.

5) Lacked high-quality content

As I stated earlier, you need to be a resource to your followers on social media. Pay attention to what your followers are sharing and post content that aligns with their interests.

Mix in posts that are less formal and more personal from time to time too, but be sure you’re posting high-quality content that your followers actually want to see.

It pays to spend some time doing keyword research in addition to browsing Quora, Reddit, forums, or any place you know your audience hangs out.

Check out our blog post on 20 Awesome Social Media Marketing Ideas to get some ideas!

6) Failed to analyze the data

Data is a powerful thing. I recommend analyzing your results at least once per week. I personally do so on Monday mornings so I can reflect on the previous week.

Analyzing your results gives you the opportunity to see what posts performed better than others. Key metrics to pay attention to are:

  • Total reach
  • Impressions and clicks
  • Frequency
  • Website visits attributed to posts
  • Click-through rate

7) Did not use calls-to-action

Make sure that you are promoting your page CTAs whenever appropriate. For example, use the “Sign Up” CTA on your Facebook page to gain new subscribers to your newsletter.

Also ensure that you use your posts as CTAs that align with your campaign.  Use them to attract attention to landing pages for various offers.

8) Used too much self-promotion

There are two tested methodologies in regards to what type of content you promote. Through our work with HubSpot, we have talked with them about the 10-4-1 technique.

This states that for every 15 posts your share on social media, 10 of them should be relevant content from other sources, four should be content you created, and one should be a CTA you are promoting.

Another principle is the 80-20 rule, which is the idea that 80% of the content you share should be relevant posts from others and the other 20% should be your own.

Regardless of which approach you take, be sure that you are still sharing content that shows off your personality.

9) Did not align strategy with channel

Aligning your strategy with your channel is very important for achieving success with social media marketing. You need to utilize each social media channel in its own way.

Facebook is a great way to show your company’s personality through employee interviews, pictures, funny memes, etc.

Twitter is a great way to share relevant industry information. I recommend sharing multiple stories a day, using quick headlines to attract interactions.

LinkedIn is my favorite way to share lengthy articles relevant to my business, as well as ones that I have published. The most important point is to be attentive to what channel your consumers use the most. Then focus your efforts on that channel.

There you have it: nine common reasons why your social media campaigns failed and how you can keep future campaigns from the same fate.

Take an honest look at your efforts and see where you have been unsuccessful. Then utilize this advice to turn your next campaign into success!

In case you’re looking for more tips on how to crush it with your social media marketing strategy, we put together this post: Social Media Marketing in 2018: 7 Things You Need to Know

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