Page 6 - June 2018

Page 6
The Basic Social Media Mistakes Companies Still Make
Keith A. Quesenberry, www.hbr.org

Over 90% of medium and large business- approach sounds like it makes sense, but it have corporate blogs, and one-third
es have used social media in their marketing can trap you in a social media–only per- (33%) are on Pinterest. If you are not
for five years or longer. Yet the CMO Survey spective. After all, how much is that like, using these or other platforms, you could
reveals that nearly half of marketers are unable comment, or share actually worth to your be missing out on valuable business op-
to show the impact of their social media in- business? Unless you connect your social portunities.
vestments. That’s why, no matter what your media actions to broader business goals
social media strategy is, it’s always a good For example, research has found that
idea to go back and make sure you have 93% of Pinterest users plan purchas-
the basics covered. Your company may es on the platform and 87% have
discover that it needs a strategic do-over. made a purchase after seeing a prod-
uct they liked. Other platforms, such
Philip Kotler once said, “You should nev- as Snapchat, may be the ideal place to
er go to battle before you’ve won the war reach certain demographics (say, Mil-
on paper.” But countless businesses have lennials). Instagram has played an
done just that with social media. Although integral role in helping to lift sales for
97% of Fortune 500 corporations are on brands including Gatorade. And busi-
LinkedIn, 84% are on Facebook, and nesses that have prioritized blogging
86% are on Twitter, many brands entered are 13 times more likely to receive
the social media front lines without a clear positive ROI.
strategy. Social was an add-on to existing
plans — another outlet to deliver the So how do you ensure that your so-
marketing message. Later, marketers found from the beginning, ROI can be elusive, cial media efforts are aligned with what
themselves working backward to connect their and social media becomes an end unto matters to your company — and that you
social strategy to business strategy, as manag- itself. are positively contributing to the bottom
ers demanded greater proof of ROI. The second mistake is to limit your brand line? Start by basing your social strategy
on business objectives, then follow that
There are a few common mistakes that mar- presence to the most popular social media by thinking about target market, social
keters make with social media. The first is to channels. Success often depends on having media platforms, tools, and metrics.
start with social media objectives. Marketers a multichannel social media strategy. Yet
take a channel such as Facebook, Twitter, or only two-thirds of the Fortune 500 (66%) To read the full
LinkedIn, and then set goals for raising their are using YouTube, under half are on In-
numbers of likes, comments, and shares. This stagram (45%), just over one-third (36%) article click here.