How long does it take for social media marketing to pay off? (Part 1)
You’ve bitten the bullet and opened several social accounts. You’ve built your profiles, posted a few times and even gained some followers. So, how long do you have to wait until the sales start flooding in?
In this two-part series, we look at some of the common roadblocks to social media marketing success, and what you can do to achieve great results and maybe even speed up the process.
Are you investing the right amount?
Social media marketing can be a time-consuming endeavour. Typically, businesses spend anywhere between six to twenty hours per week building their profiles, posting content, switching between platforms and responding to posts. It takes time and resources, often over a long period, for your social strategy to start generating returns.
With many businesses investing as little as 15% of their overall marketing budget on digital, social media marketing can be considered a lesser priority. As such, it’s often left to inexperienced staff who opt for the shotgun approach in the hope that something will stick.
Are your efforts driven by strategy?
With so many inventive and engaging ways to communicate online, it can be hard to know which social platforms will be most effective for your business. What’s important is that you don’t need to be on every social channel – just the ones that matter to you and your target audience.
There needs to be a clear purpose to every platform you’re on and every piece of content your post, be it driving traffic to your online shop, pushing brand awareness or rewarding loyalty. A shotgun approach won’t work – you need a targeted social media strategy.
How is your content quality?
Creating original and compelling content on a consistent basis is crucial if you want to see positive returns from social. Quality content can generate immense value for your business, particularly in terms of brand awareness and customer engagement.
However, this increased awareness and engagement won’t necessarily land you more sales right away. Rather, it’s about balancing these short-term wins with realistic expectations of the long road to a mature social presence.
And that’s the whole point in this debate. As this article shows, marketers will be sorely disappointed if they’re looking for short cuts to quick returns in social media marketing. You need experienced people to implement a targeted strategy with quality content, all of which takes time and money.
In Part 2 of this series, we look at ways business can target their social media budget to achieve great results. In the meantime, if you’re looking for advice on social media optimisation or for help in implementing an effective digital strategy, contact iFactory today on 07 3844 0577.
