
It’s not about Output – It’s about Outcomes
By spending 6 hours per week, >70% of marketers enjoy enhanced lead generation, improved search rankings, more website traffic and increased conversion rates. Here is a simple step-by-step process you can follow to help you select your social channels, create content and post away. You cannot go wrong. Over 3.8 billion users actively engage with social media platforms daily.
Sound familiar?
If a tangible, simple step-by-step guide to successful social media marketing existed, the vast majority of partakers would be successful at social media marketing?
Some observations …
- Hundreds of social media marketing guidelines are available and still a rather low percentage of participants are successful.
- Algorithms differ, continually change and govern the rules of content distribution on social media. They are designed to organize and deliver content to users based on their online behavior.
- Due to this, <5% of targeted followers see the organic content aimed at them.
- Platforms offer options for targeting, audience building, retargeting and measuring success.
- With a robust brand, a clear offering and a budget to support your content, you can place your message where it seemingly matters, and you can place it often.
- Posting more does not necessarily equate to more targeted eyes on your content.
- More targeted eyes on your content does not necessarily equate to driving the intended outcomes.
So, what does that mean for marketers? In my view, channel selection and posting processes are the easily assessable, straightforward aspects of social media marketing. This is where most step-by-step guides seem to focus. I find this misleading, because by concentrating on the quantifiable output mechanics it fosters the misconception that output equates to success. Authoring the appropriate messaging is the ‘not so straightforward’ part and, in my view, is critical to the success of your campaign, no matter the size of your budget.
Output no longer equates to meaningful exposure!
If, Impact is a function of Frequency (How often you place) – Reach (where you place) – Content (What you say), then the relevance of your message is incredibly significant. Put another way, no matter how many targeted people you reach and how often you reach them, if your message does not resonate with their needs, your resources and budget will be mostly wasted.
Thus, social media can be a game-changer for your business if your approach is sensible. Whether your tactics include paid or organic content, or both, get the input aligned to your target audience (Messaging) before tackling the output mechanics (Platforms and placement).
This will probably ensure that however few, or many, of your target audience receive the message, your resources and budget will be contributing effectively to your intended outcomes.