The Cold, Hard Truth About Social Media Outreach

Social media sounds like a massive opportunity to reach your target audience – and it is. But there’s a problem right at the core of today’s platforms: they’re massively oversubscribed. And that makes making any kind of headway on them extraordinarily difficult to achieve. 

In this post, we’re going to take a look at the cold, hard truth about your social media campaign. By the end of it, you should have a more nuanced understanding of the requirements of these platforms, and how your attitude should adapt. 

You Can Always Afford It

Some companies think that running a social media marketing campaign is optional – it’s not. 

Saying that you can’t afford it, simply isn’t an option. You can afford it because you have to do it. 

Companies with traditional leadership tend to be sceptical of social media. They see it as a flash in the pan, not central to their outreach efforts. But that’s not the direction the world is going. We’ve had these platforms for a couple of decades now, and they’ve never been more popular. If you’re not in the game, you’re probably going out of business. 

It Works

Businesses are sceptical of social media platforms to deliver returns. They know that they’re oversubscribed and that competition is fierce. 

But when you think about it, that’s no different from the market in general. Every company has to work in the context of a competitive industry, trying to beat out competitors and establish market dominance. 

Remember, you don’t have to spend a fortune manually managing your social media campaigns. Facebook and Instagram automation are both advanced technologies, offering you the ability to save masses of time.

If you’re struggling, hire somebody who knows what they’re doing. Professional social media marketers understand the landscape and can offer specialist services for your business. 

Direct Revenue Is Not A Marker Of Success

Throughout history, businesses measured the success of their advertising by measuring direct returns. You spent X amount on an advertising push and then got Y pounds in return. 

Social media marketing, however, doesn’t work like that. You’re not advertising to generate direct sales like you are when you post PPC ads on Google. Instead, you’re trying to “build brand awareness and stories.” Primarily, you’re targeting people right at the start of the buying journey and trying to create a name for yourself. 

Marketing materials, therefore, need to be more entertaining and brand-building in nature. There’s nothing wrong with using your outreach to show how much your company enjoys having fun or the values you espouse. 

Your Rivals Are Using Social Media

Like it or not, your rivals are almost certainly using social media to target your audience. For that reason, you need to do so too, so you can challenge them for dominance. 

The best approach here is to target the social site with the most resonance among your customers. For companies in the travel industry, Instagram is great because it allows you to show your audience beautiful images of destinations where they might want to take a holiday. For others, like IT support companies, Facebook is better because of chat facilities.