Social media is no longer the new kid on the block. Most companies today understand that they need to be on social media if they want to compete in the online world, and some companies even understand how to use social media correctly. However, an alarmingly high number of businesses are still not confident in their social media marketing efforts. This is clearly shown in the 2015 Social Media Marketing Trends Report put out by TrustRadius.
Almost 600 social media marketing participants—ranging from consultants to managers to CMOs—from small, mid-size, and enterprise companies took the survey. Surprisingly, it didn’t matter how large the company was or the position of the marketer, many of them reported the same issues with social media marketing. Take a look:
A whopping 60% of participants claimed that measuring their return on investment was the most difficult aspect of social media marketing. Marketers can easily look at the number of likes and followers as a guide to how well they are doing at keeping their audience entertained and educated, but that hardly translates into proof of an increased revenue.
Improving brand awareness is a common goal amongst 71% of the social media marketers responding to the survey, yet, as you know, an increased revenue is the primary goal of any business. You would think brand awareness would lead to increased revenue, but since social media marketers are having such a hard time showing that social media does impact ROI, they aren’t given the budget they need to help it grow. It’s a catch-22, really: Social media marketers need money to advertise effectively on the different social media channels, yet those in charge of budgeting aren’t allocating enough to make a difference.
Yes, there are a ton of analytics tools available for social media marketers, but that doesn’t mean they are proving the effectiveness of social media properly. Most marketers rely on the analytics tools within each social media channel, and they do trust the data they are given. The problem is they can’t find a way to interpret the information in a way to demonstrate just how much of a value social media marketing is. They know it’s important for the growth of their business, they just can’t prove it on paper.
Here’s the thing: The analytics tools to show how valuable social media marketing is do exist, you just have to know where to look. Once this data is obtained, social media marketers will be able to clearly define their goals, align them with the company’s goals, and finally be able to show just how important social media truly is.
If you are struggling to see the value of social media in your marketing strategy, contact Zero Gravity Marketing today. We would love to show you why social media marketing is just as important as your other marketing avenues.