To people looking at it from the outside, social media marketing can seem deceptively simple. All you need is a good product or service and your audience will find you. Wouldn't it be great if that were true? But unfortunately, it's not.
In fact, marketing on social media is a real challenge for local businesses - and can prove difficult even for those who invest a lot of time and energy into managing their social media accounts. The reason for this? There are some common misconceptions about social media marketing and some secrets that you simply don't know about unless someone tells you. Here they are.
#1: The size of your following doesn't matter
One of the biggest misconceptions about social media marketing is that page likes equals success. This is often not the case. You can create an entertaining account that attracts new followers without changing your bottom line. If that's the case, you're basically whistling into the wind. The time and energy you spend managing your social media pages won't earn you anything. It's better to focus on attracting highly qualified and motivated followers who are likely to become customers and share your content with their friends.
#2: Success does not happen overnight
To quote a cliché: Social media marketing is not a sprint. It's a marathon. It takes a lot of time, commitment and dedication to gain a following and see results from your social media marketing efforts. In many ways, this misconception is related to the first one. A large following does not equate to success. You can spend a lot of money to improve your page and gain a lot of followers. However, if those followers don't buy from you, the money was wasted. In other words, social media marketing requires a continuous commitment to excellence. You need to work hard to create valuable and entertaining content - and you need to be willing to optimise your methods to get the results you want.
#3: You will not be successful without analysis
Analysing the results of your social media marketing is a must if you want to grow your business. It's not enough to just look at your likes and other obvious metrics. You need to dig deep to refine your strategy. Fortunately, most platforms offer basic analytics that you can use to get started. If you pay for a social media management tool, you'll likely have access to additional reports and analyses. Either way, it's important that you use the data to test, refine and retest your content and strategy. Even if you've done well on Facebook or Instagram, you'll need to dedicate yourself to the sometimes tedious legwork that will help you find the right strategy to grow your business.
#4: Engagement is just as important as content
Sie können regelmäßig fantastische Inhalte erstellen, aber wenn Sie sich nicht auch die Zeit nehmen, mit Ihren Followern in Kontakt zu treten, können Sie sich die Mühe auch sparen. Viele Unternehmen machen den Fehler, das „Soziale“ in den sozialen Medien zu vergessen. Es ist Ihre Aufgabe, Ihre Inhalte zu überwachen, auf Kommentare zu antworten, Fragen zu beantworten und Ihren Followern generell das Gefühl zu geben, dass sie Ihnen wichtig sind. Engagement kann zeitaufwendig sein und ist einer der Gründe dafür, dass viele kleine Unternehmen in den sozialen Medien nicht gut abschneiden. Möglicherweise müssen Sie jemanden einstellen, der Ihre Erwähnungen, Kommentare, DMs und Fragen überwacht, um sicherzustellen, dass nichts durch die Maschen fällt.
#5: Success is difficult to predict
Der Heilige Gral des Social Media Marketing ist der virale Beitrag. Ob es sich um ein Video, ein Meme, ein Foto oder einen Blogbeitrag handelt, jeder Social Media-Vermarkter träumt davon, „The One“ zu erstellen – den besonderen Beitrag, der Millionen von Followern erreicht und sein Unternehmen in die Umlaufbahn schickt. Wir würden Ihnen gerne eine Formel geben, mit der Sie den perfekten Beitrag erstellen können. Leider gibt es das nicht. Das Beste, was Sie tun können, ist, den unterhaltsamsten, wertvollsten und relevantesten Inhalt zu erstellen, den Sie finden können – und zu hoffen, dass Ihre Follower ihn teilen und dass er ankommt. Natürlich gibt es einige Dinge, die Ihre Chancen, viral zu werden, verbessern können. Humorvolle Inhalte kommen gut an, ebenso wie Inhalte, die für verschiedene Gruppen von Menschen nützlich sind. Anstatt sich auf die Viralität zu konzentrieren, sollten Sie Ihre Zeit damit verbringen, kreativ zu werden – und der Rest wird hoffentlich folgen.
#6: You need a creative team to help you
Your social media goals can be simple or lofty, but either way you should realise that you can't achieve everything you need to do without help. Creativity is a plus when it comes to social media marketing. If you only share content from others or tweet information about your products, you won't gain the enthusiastic following you desire. The key is to give your social media manager the creative support they need. This may mean hiring a creative team to work with them. Or you can simply give them a creative budget to hire freelance writers, photographers and artists to give your social media marketing a boost.
#7: Everything can change in the blink of an eye
One of the most difficult aspects of social media marketing is that change is normal. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram are constantly adjusting their algorithms - and you need to keep up with the changes if you want to be successful. Facebook, for example, recently changed its algorithm to favour posts from personal contacts over those from businesses. As a result, business owners have had to rethink their strategies, put more effort into organic engagement and increase their Facebook marketing budgets to ensure their posts reach their followers. Tracking your performance and engagement can help you do this. However, it's important to be aware of the changes and adjust your strategy accordingly so you don't get bogged down.
Social media marketing is not as easy as it seems...
That much is clear. But if you keep the seven points we've outlined here in mind, you can make the most of the time, creative energy and money you spend on promoting your business on social media.
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