Five Reasons Your Social Media Efforts are Falling Flat
More than 80 percent of Americans are on social media today. That is up 5 percent from just one year ago. And make no mistake, farmers and ranchers are as likely as anyone else to be on social media.
So what does that mean if you are looking to market to farmers and ranchers? It means you must have a strong social media strategy in place. Unfortunately, social media – while wildly popular and an extremely effective marketing technique – often falls flat when it comes to attracting new customers and promoting brands.
If you are using social media to connect and engage with farmers and ranchers but your efforts seem to be falling flat, don’t give up. Social media is too important to ignore so you need to work at it until you get it right.
In order to improve your social media performance you must understand what you are doing wrong. Read on to learn about some of the most common reasons social media isn’t doing its job.
- You don’t have a plan. You wouldn’t start a business without a business plan so make sure you have a social media plan. You need to decide what your goals are when it comes to social media success. Are you looking for a particular number of followers, for example? You can’t succeed with social media if you don’t know what success looks like.
- You’re spreading yourself too thin. There are a lot of social media platforms out there but more isn’t always better. Figure out where most of your customers and prospects are hanging out online and concentrate on those sites. If you are on every social media platform it is going to be extremely difficult to succeed on each and every one. Remember, you want to engage with people through social media and if you are on too many sites that will be difficult to accomplish.
- You’re ignoring metrics. People may be liking your posts but you need to know much more than that. You need to be tracking things like conversions, engagement and reach. Once you get a handle on this data it will be easier to measure the ROI of your social media efforts.
- You fail to integrate. Social media should never exist in a vacuum. Make sure your social media efforts are integrated with your overall marketing strategy. Doing so will allow you to become seen as a thought leader in the industry while solidifying your brand’s particular voice.
- You don’t use calls-to-action. It may seem obvious to you that you want people to comment and share your posts but you need to ask them to do it.
Social media is a powerful, cost-effective way to promote your brand. Make sure you are taking full advantage of it when marketing to the countless farmers and ranchers who are using it.