It’s true, social media doesn’t always work! Marketing agencies don’t always tell the truth – but Carbon Copy isn’t just any marketing agency. Here’s why social media doesn’t work for you…

1. It’s too soon
As we say, all good things come to those who wait, and social media is no exception. It’s not the the golden egg, it takes time, work and effort and sometimes it’s hard to justify the time on social media management as proper work, but it does still count! If you’re not seeing results yet, have you given it enough time? What were your key performance indicators and are you looking at the right metrics?
2. It doesn’t look any good
Has anyone ever followed you on Twitter and you’ve rejected them because they had a blank profile avatar, or their handle was suffixed with a string of numbers? I’ve rejected new followers because they’ve got nothing in their bio that attracts me to them – who would waste valuable space like that when you’re limited to only 280 characters as it is? Whichever platform you use, make sure it’s optimised; services, area, hashtags, benefits, call to action – get them in there.
3. It’s not interesting
Boring! If I can’t be bothered to read the bio, then I’m sure as heck not going to bother with scrolling your profile or clicking through any links. Try asking questions, use polls, show images, be aspirational, inspirational, helpful and funny. You’re talking to real people who are investing their time in your marketing, make it worth their while.
4. It’s not cared for
Just bashing out a few re-tweets or shares is great for a short-term solution, or if you genuinely want to show support for an advocate. If you need to do this, please include a comment on your shared post, it offers insight and is a great way to share your opinion. However, no one wants to see a list of un-original content on your pages, so make the effort to write your own content and analyse the results at the end of each month. I must stress – know where you’re going wrong and you’ll get back on the right path sooner.
5. It’s inconsistent
Change the time you send your posts, but do it after a couple of weeks so you can track the response, not day by day when you think about it, or, “oops it’s been ages since I said anything, best bung something up”. Be consistent in the theme of your posts but change it regularly. A good rule of thumb to follow is 30% sales related site links to 70% insight and general interest. Use a planning document to stay on topic and again, analyse the results!
In summary, when it comes to seeing results from social media marketing, try not to be impatient, we’re talking about organic traffic here, relying on your content being noticed and reacted to whilst you build relationships with your audience. We’re creating a pull here, not pushing ads into people’s news feeds. You can do that if you want, it’s very effective, but it’s not always cost effective, so you’ll need to track results closely and that works best alongside your usual 30/70 strategy.
Good luck with your planning and remember to have fun – it’s work but it’s social! If you need further support with managing your social media channels, give me a call on 07825 031036, or email hilary@carboncopysocial.co.uk.