9 Reasons Why 80% of Social Media Marketing Campaigns Don’t Sell

Most marketers’ go-to solution to establishing a strong social media presence is creating a social media marketing campaign, which is a coordinated marketing effort that uses social media platforms to achieve a specific business goal. Social media campaigns must have measurable goals based on their message and target audience. Campaigns can involve engaging content, such as posts, videos, and images to build brand awareness, drive traffic and sales or both. Campaigns can be run on various social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, etc. Sounds really simple, right? And honestly, it is. But where most markets go wrong is overlooking reasons that can result in failed social media marketing campaigns. Explore the nine common social media marketing mistakes that hinder the sales potential of 80% of campaigns. Gain insights into the common social media mistakes made by companies through examples, and uncover the key factors that make up successful social media marketing campaigns.

1. Incorrect Goal Setting

Social media marketing campaigns can and should have different goals. It’s important to identify and set these goals accurately. Whether it’s a brand awareness campaign or a sales campaign, make sure your CTA and messaging align with your goal. Having a “follow for more” CTA for a sales campaign will result in failure. If you aren’t SMART about your goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound), your campaign may not be able to get you great results.

2. Lack of Strategy

A social media campaign should be part of a larger marketing strategy based on your goals. If the campaign is not aligned with the overall marketing objectives, it’s unlikely to succeed. If your larger strategy is brand awareness, having more sales campaigns will result in not just an unsuccessful campaign but also lead people to unfollow your account. If it’s a launch campaign, you have to make sure the messaging is in line with your brand tone.

3. Inaccurate Targeting

If your campaigns don’t speak to your target audience they will not lead to conversions, especially if it’s a sales campaign. You have to have an in-depth understanding of your target audience and make sure the content is relatable to them. One of the worst social media mistakes you can make is communicating with a 25-year-old in the same manner as you would with a 50-year-old. Make sure your metrics such as demographics, interests, behaviours, and location, are used accurately to reach the right audience. Recommended Read : A Simple Social Media Strategy every Startup can use and experiment with

4. Inconsistent Messaging

If the messaging is inconsistent or unclear, it can confuse the audience and undermine the campaign’s effectiveness. This is important as a branding exercise in general but can really dictate the effectiveness of your campaign. And this isn’t just for one platform, the messaging should be consistent across all channels and aligned with your brand’s values and tone.

5. Lack of Creativity

People are bombarded with ads and posts all the time. According to research, an average person can see between 4,000 and 10,000 ads in a single day. In ONE DAY! And in this sea, it’s extremely easy for your campaign to drown without creating the impact you hoped for. If your campaign doesn’t stand out, it will go unnoticed.

6. Poor Content Quality

Would you follow a television show if it has bad screenplay writing? We are assuming no, right? The same goes for your social media marketing campaigns. All social media platforms are visual and bad content is the easiest way to guarantee a failure. Posting outdated content can also cause your campaign to crash. Being relevant and relatable while adding value to your customer is a great way to create an impact marketing campaign. For example, many brands utilised the Oscar results to create reels and creatives that were funny and relatable. However, using the Oscars as a base for your campaign significantly after will leave people feeling underwhelmed.

7. Inadequate Budget and Overlooking Influencer Marketing

Not just for ads, but marketing campaigns require funds for a lot of other resources. It can be an optimisation tool to ensure effective implementation. It can even be for collaborations that brands could do to increase their reach. Many campaigns fail because of not integrating influencer marketing into their own marketing strategy. Sales happen on trust. Overlooking the benefits of the combination of influencer marketing and paid ads could be the reason behind a failed campaign. Recommended Read: 10 Things Your Performance Marketing Campaign Shouldn’t Be Doing

8. Inadequate Monitoring and Measurement

Without proper monitoring and measurement, it’s impossible to know if the campaign is working. It’s practically like shooting in the dark. The campaign should be monitored regularly, and consistently. This data should then be used to make adjustments to your campaign or kept in mind before strategizing your next campaign. To accurately measure and analyse the data you can fetch statistics from Meta Business Suite itself or you can use other paid apps such as Moat and Piwik Pro. Learn more about such apps from Toolcano .

9. Being Impatient

In other words, expecting results too soon. According to the theory of media sufficiency, an advertisement must be seen an ideal amount of times before it can be said to be effective. (that is, before a member of your target audience takes a desired action from the ad). Anything less than that optimum number of exposures will have little to no impact on your target group, and anything more than that will be a waste due to diminishing returns. Social media marketing campaigns don’t deliver results overnight. Most marketers make the mistake of either changing their strategy too soon or calling it a day without adequate testing. Some experts say you should wait at least 6 to 12 months before reassessing your strategy. The best way to check whether your campaign is effective is to A/B test with different strategies to check whether the campaign is taking time to warm up or is it actually not delivering the desired results. As brilliantly stated by Neil Patel, “It isn’t just creation and promotion; it is a process as well. I think that’s what a lot of people forget”, a social media marketing campaign is as good as your process. Keep these 9 things in mind and rest assured your campaign will deliver the results you’re looking for. We understand that running and monitoring campaigns may seem overwhelming and confusing. At We Think North, we create personalised strategies for brands to ensure data-driven results. Let’s get started on your social media marketing campaign today and set you up for success with these valuable tips for social media success!