Businesses have recognized the need for having an in-house dedicated social media team to manage their online presence. Social media can have a significant impact on attracting and engaging customers. Most people are on at least one but often many more social media platforms. 

The rise in internet access and the use of mobile technologies such as smartphones has made social media a viable space for reaching target consumers. However, the complexity of consumer dynamics and the availability of multiple platforms can make effective social media campaigning difficult. 

The following eight reasons will help you understand why your social media campaigns are not working and suggest potential solutions or options that might help improve the outcomes. 

1.      Selecting the Wrong or Inappropriate platform

Social media platforms appear to be the same, but subtle differences could determine the success or lack thereof of a social media marketing campaign. A particular individual might use different platforms differently depending on their purposes. 

For example, Twitter is good for political and social activism because of the hashtag format, which allows people to interact with the same post with significant ease. For example, the #ArabSpring, #NotOneMore, #followback, and #funny hashtags are some of the memorable ones that people have used to engage in various activist activities.

According to personal finance expert Kane Georgiou, “Pinterest is an often under looked yet incredibly powerful means of driving traffic to a blog using image form. You can use 2 or 3 images to drive traffic into 1 post and the ad spend needed is much less than on other platforms”.

Users usually prefer Facebook and Instagram for primarily family and friendship relationships. Furthermore, demographic characteristics could influence social media platform choice.

Consequently, social media campaigns should consider the platform and the demographic that is likely to use it in their social media campaign. Use LinkedIn to target top business executives. 

Facebook is a better platform for targeting a particular social milieu, such as motorcycle enthusiast clubs. Instagram appears to be popular with millennials from diverse sociocultural backgrounds. #TheRightPlatform should be at the back of your mind when creating an effective social media campaign.  

2.      Creating Content that is Just a Passing Fad 

A fad never lasts past the initial enthusiasm. Social media campaign content should persist in the target segment’s memory for long after the campaign ends. Even millennials and Generation Z know Bob Marley because his content was original and had a lasting impact on society's consciousness. 

On the other hand, despite their current fame and popularity, Lil Wayne's and Cardi B's relatively shallow and uninspired work might not survive the next three decades.

Social media campaigns should assume a similar mindset of long-term viability. Long-term viability ensures that brands have a lasting personality and an all-pervading influence on the collective consciousness.

A brand can acquire significant popularity that individual users might replicate the brand’s identity through memes and other social media elements. A good example of a lasting social media campaign is Nike’s Just Do It featuring Colin Kaepernick. 

The campaign sparked a wide variety of memes that were shared on social media, which greatly increased its reach. 

While some of the memes and commentaries were critical of the racial undertones during the campaign, they nonetheless helped propagate the content. Like Nike, even you should just do it and create a social media campaign with Bob Marley’s long-lasting appeal. 

3.      Ignoring the role Data Plays in Strategy 

Data is driving today’s knowledge economy. Data analytics tools can help you make informed decisions and develop strategies that lead to effective social media campaigning.

Analytics can provide information about how the audience reacts to published content, guiding you in making practical changes that enhance the reception of subsequent content and messages. 

Read more: 7 Reasons Most Businesses Don’t Succeed In Social Media Marketing

4.      Failing to Analyze and Update Strategy

The market environment changes, and so does strategy. Companies should analyze and update their strategies based on changes in their operating environments. In life, the more things change, the more they remain the same. In business, everything changes.            

5.      Lacking an Overall Style of Theme 

Ever met someone without style? Boring. That is what people who interact with a social media campaign without style or theme feel like. Their attention span shifts to something else with a lot more panache.

The idea of theme and style in a social media campaign may seem foolish, but it can make a big difference. Consider Richard Branson, the brand ambassador and owner of the Virgin Group of Companies. 

He has the posh British style, and his company's theme is “dare to be different,” which is embodied in Branson’s lifestyle. Similarly, your social media campaign can use style and theme to stand out from the competition. Style and theme are better communicated using visual social media networks such as Instagram. 

Themes can range from using a specific pattern with photos, framing each photo with the same frame, or using a specific filter or group of filters for each of the campaign’s photos. For example, Nike’s Just Do It campaign had a distinctive black and white filter, which social media users copied when creating their memes.     

6.      Forgetting the Need to Involve Social Media Influencers 

Social media influencers have a great impact on the success of social media campaigns. About 94 percent of respondents involved in The State of Influencer Marketing 2017 report said that social media influencers were ‘influential’ in driving results. 

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are case studies in how social media influencers can change the public’s perception of a brand. Kanye West recently increased the popularity of the Jesus brand through his album Jesus is King. Most likely, you have little doubt that his influence is nothing short of miraculous. 

Similarly, you could use social media influencers relevant to your particular brand message to increase the potential for the campaign’s success.    

7.      Misidentification of Target Customer 

Developing goals and targeting an audience is not enough to ensure success in social media campaigns. There should be little or no disjunction between the product you are selling and the end-user. Hypothetically, while it would work to sell apples to monkeys, it would work better if you sold them bananas instead. 

Similarly, it would be better to post memes and other social media tools that are relevant not only to the audience but to the right audience. This allows you to build an audience base that is highly specific to your brand. They are highly likely to be loyal to the brand. 

It could also help with content strategy and make it easier to select an appropriate channel to deliver the message. The best way to identify the target audience is to engage in research using social media conversations, surveys, and questions.

Talk to your audience. You might find something new and valuable that could give you a new insight into their personalities.     

Read more: 7 Ways to Use Social Media for Better Growth in 2020 

8.      Targeting the Right People with the Wrong Target Market  

Social media campaigns should be specific to the right audience as well as the right target market. The target market can change over time while containing the right audience for the campaign. Therefore, you should tailor the message for the target market at a particular time in the audience’s life. 

The social media campaign message could change over time based on changes in the target market, but the target audience will always remain the same. This approach is referred to as funnel marketing since it considers the customer’s life journey when creating a campaign message. 

In other words, you do not propose marriage on the first date. You should woo the audience at every stage of the courtship process with the appropriate message for a long-term relationship doing business together.

The list of reasons provided includes the most common ones that could help provide insights into potential loopholes in your social media campaigns. They might not be exhaustive, but they cover the most important areas that are most useful in ensuring a successful social media campaign. 

Using case study examples of successful social media campaigns can provide additional information relevant to your organization on how to develop effective strategies.

Author: Adam Georgiou

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