Why Your Social Media Marketing Campaigns are Not Working

Digital or online marketing covers various areas, including SEO and blog writing. As you build your digital marketing strategy, you will learn to optimise through numerous online channels. Many digital marketers focus the most on search engines and their websites. In this day and age, though, it’s a huge mistake to neglect social media platforms. After all, they are where you can promote your business and brand as you connect with potential customers.

Social media has become a mainstay of digital marketing. When social media campaigns are done correctly, they can be a powerful tool for both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) marketing. Sometimes, however, some factors could be at play, which is why you do not get your expected results.

Before you begin troubleshooting, you must first figure out the determinants influencing the not-so-attractive results. This blog will help you understand why your social media campaigns are struggling and how you can fix them.

7 Reasons Why Your Social Media Marketing Campaigns are Ineffective

Have you been marketing your brand on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter? If so, you may be wondering why they are underperforming. Here are seven possible causes for your campaigns not working as well as you hoped:

1. Weak Content

Social media content plays a huge factor in making or breaking your online campaigns. If it is dull and uninspired, it can prevent your brand from shining on your chosen platform.

One thing that you should remember is that the online world is vast and fast-paced. To say that competition is fierce is now an understatement, given the number of new and existing competitors you have. To survive, the primary step is to focus on social media content. Anything you put out there should be attention-grabbing, informative, and relevant; otherwise, it will get lost in the shuffle.

So, how do you fix powerless content? Here are some tips:

• Have you ever stopped scrolling to read a massive wall of text on Facebook or Instagram? Probably not. This shows that social media is not where you should put out lengthy texts. Instead, the message should be clear and straightforward, especially when advertising your business.
• Avoid using stock photos as much as possible. For one, they don’t perform as well as authentic images. And two, they are not good for your SEO campaigns. Use real photos and have text that matches them to summarise and drive home points.
• Repurpose content using visuals, such as infographics, graphs, and charts.
• Share testimonials and reviews from customers.

Don’t forget to research the latest visual trends from platforms like Pinterest and Instagram. It also helps to check your competitor’s hashtags and those trending in your industry.

2. Unsuitable Platforms

There have been several brick-and-mortar establishments that did not do well until they switched locations. Your social media campaigns may be suffering from the same predicament and therefore requires you to operate on the other side of town.

Here are a few ways that will help you determine whether you’re on the wrong channel:

• You don’t get high-quality leads that turn into customers.
• Your audience is not relevant, causing little to no social media interaction.
• You’re not getting a good return on your investment.

Choosing the right platform is crucial to your marketing campaigns. It’s not too late to remedy the situation with the following steps:

• Start with your audience. Facebook currently holds the record for the biggest number of active users. However, that does not matter if your target audience does not populate this channel. That said, people are said to have an average of 6.6 accounts, so it’s easier to seek potential customers on bigger social networks.
• Consider your business. Your brand personality, services/products, and business type all have a say in your platform selection. For instance, if you have a highly visual brand and work mainly with graphic designers, DeviantArt and Instagram are among the best channels. Meanwhile, if you want to increase your B2B relationships, it’s better to head to LinkedIn.
• Research competitors and the industry. A good digital marketer will conduct a competitive analysis to learn about your competition and the overall industry. Through the assessment, you can determine the platforms they’re using, the campaigns with high and low success rates, and the level of engagement of their audience on each channel.
• Align campaigns to your marketing goals. Why are you on social media? Your answer will impact your choice of social media platform. For example, if you wish to boost your customer support, put Twitter and Facebook at the top of your list over Instagram. To showcase products, you may need to prioritise Instagram and Pinterest over the rest.

Multiple channels don’t mean increased success. Pick one platform first and focus on it before launching your brand on others. Make sure that you tailor your content based on the platform you’re using. It’s never a good idea to publish the same message on all your social media accounts.

3. Poorly Implemented Integration

You most likely have several channels to communicate with business prospects and customers, such as websites, phones, and social media. All these channels need to work seamlessly; otherwise, poor integration occurs.

Let’s say someone clicked on your Facebook ad, directing them to your website. If the message on your site does not match the ads, that’s a lack of integration. It quickly confuses and even frustrates customers. As a result, they may refrain from doing business with you.

Fixing this problem is easier if you can identify where the disconnect happens. Take a closer look at your social media pages and your communications channels to find if there are any discrepancies. Depending on the severity of the issue, you can repair this lack of integration by simply updating your copy. In some cases, a complete website redesign or social media may be required.

4. Trend Dodging

B2B and B2C campaigns rarely work if you don’t keep up with the latest trends. Sure, it can be exhausting to change your strategy every once in a while, but the payoff is worth all the effort. Some trends that could be your way to re-energise your social media campaigns include:

• Stories: Take advantage of short posts that disappear after 24 hours on Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram. Stories are a great way to show off your services or products in action. You can also use them to give a behind-the-scenes look at your business, which effectively humanises your brand.
• Visuals: Text-based posts are undoubtedly useful, but generally not on social media where users have shorter attention spans. As mentioned above, avoid blocks of text and harness the power of infographics, images, and videos.
• Live Videos: Speaking of videos, going live on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook is also helpful in pushing your brand to your audience. It allows you to interact with your audience in real-time through video or live chat, as well.

In 2023, it’s predicted that word-of-mouth marketing will play a huge role. Embrace this strategy by equipping your social media campaigns with user-generated content (UGC) from none other than your customers.

Another trend is tapping into emerging platforms. TikTok is among those platforms that drove brands to the forefront in 2022. It’s safe to say that there will be more up-and-coming channels in 2023, such as BeReal, which you should certainly take advantage of.

5. Organic as End-All-Be-All

Google certainly loves organic strategies. However, you’ve probably noticed the rapid changes in various social media platforms. Since news feeds are governed by an algorithm, your organic reach can quickly decline. It’s time to supplement it with paid ads, which ensure that more people will see your content. More views equal a high probability of campaign success.

Organic social media involves all free content that you share on your feed. It can be anything from photos to memes to stories. People who see your organic content include your brand’s followers, people following the hashtags you use, and your followers’ followers if they share your post. Meanwhile, paid ads are exactly what they imply. You pay the social media platform to get your content out there.

You may think that paid ads are not worthwhile, but the additional expense can bring about the following benefits:

• Increase your brand awareness
• Gain new followers and leads
• Promote new deals, events, or content easier
• Drive conversions and e-commerce sales

The key is to integrate your organic social media and paid strategies, in which the former is for your existing customers whilst the latter is to attract new eyes. Here are tips on how to do it:

• Boost your best organic content, such as the top-performing posts, to increase followers and, hopefully, leads.
• Optimise posts with A/B testing. This step involves running your ad to a smaller audience. You can use this to weigh in on the probable success of your CTA, visuals, ad placement, and copywriting.
• Make sure you target ads to groups that match your organic audience. Utilise the data you’ve acquired from your existing organic social media presence. Look at your audience’s location, age, interests, and problems. Then, capitalise on the information you have and use it to build your ads around them.
• Retarget your ads to help you keep your organic audience. This low-cost tactic is highly effective because you can reach out to people who are already aware of your business.

Even with the changes today, organic social media is the foundation of any digital marketing strategy. It is still the best way to grow and nurture your connection with your audience. But the reality is that the online world has expanded significantly. It’s now so difficult for your brand to be seen by your existing followers, let alone new eyes. That’s why paid social media goes hand in hand with organic campaigns.

Related Article: The Different Ad Formats and Ad Types You Can Explore With Facebook

6. Lack of Fresh Ideas

If your social media campaigns worked in the beginning but are declining in performance lately, it may be due to the lack of fresh content ideas. And we can’t fault you for that. It’s one of the biggest social media challenges that everyone faces, including big-name brands.

Your social media presence never ceases to grow. Even if a campaign falls flat, you are expected to pull through and keep the content flowing. Whilst you can check what your competitors are doing to get some ideas, it’s not a good idea to obsess over their tactics. Creativity typically comes in waves, so be proactive in developing new strategies. One way to generate fresh content is through ongoing brainstorming. The following tips can help you out:

• Use tools to listen to social media trends, examine your audience’s behaviours and customer feedback, and perform consumer research. Take advantage of your data for brand monitoring to drive better social media campaign strategies.
• Do some “trendspotting,” which is the ability to spot current and up-and-coming trends. That way, you can adopt them and get ahead of others.
• Collaborate with customers, brand advocates, and even other creators. It is also an excellent opportunity to learn from their experience and advice.

Many businesses now host an Ask Me Anything (AMA) event to grow and strengthen their relationship with their followers. You can do the same or try other methods, such as hosting a challenge, running a social media takeover, or creating a weekly or monthly series.

7. Lack of Direction and Growth

You could easily get stuck even if you have been running your socials for a short while. Unanswered questions like, “What now?” or “What should I do?” can make you lose enthusiasm, making you feel like your brand is on autopilot. Whilst this challenge can be fixed with specific solutions, there are times when a new social media marketing strategy is the only way. How do you know it’s time to re-strategise? It’s when you post “just because.”

One of the best methods to get back on track is to evaluate the big-picture purpose of your social media presence. From here, you can determine where you want it to be in the future. We propose the following solutions:

• Have a look at your goals and expectations. Discuss these items with your team to ensure everyone is on the same page.
• Check your metrics and KPIs to determine whether you’re focusing on the appropriate ones.
• Your social media marketing campaign will not work if you do not publish frequently. Figure out a good schedule that you can keep, or look up the best times to post on your page.

It also helps to conduct an audit, which will help you assess what works and what doesn’t, especially in terms of timing and content. Get hold of your data so you can see the top-performing posts and the highs and lows of your engagement rates. From here, you can conclude, making it easier to set performance benchmarks that will allow your socials to grow.

Final Words

Creating an impactful social media presence through a successful marketing campaign does not happen accidentally. There will always be roadblocks, which may cause you to pause or even panic. Remember, it happens to everyone. It helps to have a proactive plan by following the tips we have provided so you can move your presence forward.

The good news? You don’t have to do it alone! Origin Digital can help you improve your social media marketing strategies and make the struggles a thing of the past. Give our experts a call at (08) 6373 2548 today!