By now, every business owner knows his or her brand needs to be on social media — but that doesn’t make navigating the ever-changing ecosystem that is social media marketing any easier. Wonder what your competition is doing on social media? And how they’re doing it?
Enter Social Media Examiner. The world’s largest resource for all things social has surveyed 5,000+ business owners and marketers to figure out the who, what, where, when and why of their social media marketing efforts, and has released their findings in the 2016 Social Media Marketing Industry Report.
What can you learn about what your competition is doing on social media?
1. If you’re struggling with how best to market your brand on social media, you are not alone.
40% of those surveyed cop to having a harder time combating the challenges that social media marketing has presented over the last 12 months. New platforms are popping up, older platforms are adding new features, and everyone’s changing their algorithm. Marketers grapple with figuring out which networks to be on, which indicators to rely on, which techniques to utilize and which advice to follow.
2. Everyone might be doing it, but many of them are not sure why!
It’s not enough to have a presence on social media — for your social marketing efforts to be efficient — and effective — you have to keep a close eye on how it’s working.
And it seems many of your competitors are not — less than 20% of those surveyed are regularly analyzing their social media activities. It is crucial to success in the constantly changing social media world that you select which data to watch — and then watch it — so you can evaluate successes and failures to tweak the approach that you’re taking.
3. You reap what you sow.
It turns out, like almost everything else in life, you get out of your social media marketing what you put into it. Success on social media requires commitment. Building a well-targeted audience is hard — keeping that target audience engaged and interactive is ever harder.
37% of those surveyed are spending a maximum of 5 hours per week on their marketing of the social media kind — not enough in today’s social landscape if they are expecting to move the needle in any significant way.
Which leads us to the next point…
4. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Organic reach is tough all over — marketers have come to accept that they will need to pay to play on social media if they are going to stand a chance. 2016 may very well be the year that making a financial investment in advertising on social media went from luxury to necessity.
Where are marketers spending their social media budgets? A whopping 87% say they are investing precious marketing dollars in advertisements and boosted posts on Facebook.
And finally…what’s it all for?
5. The payoff.
The numbers don’t lie… if you are putting in the time and brainpower, not to mention money, to market your brand on social media, you’re reaping the benefits of your investment. 75% of those surveyed report increased traffic as a result of their marketing efforts and 68% say they’ve developed a loyal fan base. Two-thirds of those who responded say social media accounts for new leads generated.
And there is no shortcut to success — the more you invest, the more you’ll get out of it. 74% of those who say their brand spends a collective 40+ hours per week on social media report earning new business as a direct result of their efforts.
Takeaways
Now that you have a glimpse into what your competition is doing on social media, how does your brand stack up?
The marketing professionals at CMDS can position your brand ahead of the competition. Together, we can strengthen your brand and create engaging experiences for your audience. Contact our team to discuss the future of your social media marketing at 732-706-5555.