5 Major Reasons Why So Many Companies Fail At Social Media

Social Media is a tactic that is used as part of a strategy. You can read more on that in my article “Digital Strategy is Not Necessarily Social Media”. The strategy of all businesses is to know your client (KYC) and build client relationships. In an era where things are moving fast and only getting faster, one thing must be done slowly: building relationships. Building relationships takes time and must be done slowly. Let us dig into the biggest reasons why many people fail at social media.

1. Emotional Work: Social Media is about engaging your audience. It means there is a 2-way banter. It means there is a listening and responding loop. This differs from traditional media buying, where you publish and walk away. It is personal; it is caring about people in your social sphere, one-on-one.
2. Quality vs Quantity: there is confusion about the number of followers translating to your ability to influence. A large fan base only translates to an immediate broad reach. The reason is that many platforms throttle the messages to the users over time and engagement of the content. Your ability to influence others is not only based on the number of people that follow you but the quality of the relationships you have with them and the quality of the content. You need quality first, then Quantity. See my article “The Definition of Brand and Branding in the Social Digital Age.”  Measuring caring is a complex metric to measure, but if you understand people, you know it matters.
   
3. Compelling Content: If you want people to be interested, you must be interesting. If you cannot put out quality content that is relevant and remarkable, then it will matter very little how many people see it; there will be no traction. It will never go viral. Social smarts are still at work, both online and offline.
4. Patience: Social Media is not a sprint. It takes time before you see a payoff. If your intention is the bottom line, then social media is not the best tactic for you. Building trust via interaction, content sharing, and debate with clients and friends takes time. It will not show up on your bottom line after four weeks. If you need immediate results, this might seem like a losing tactic, but this is more of a long-term strategy.
5. Platform: Every platform has its own culture. The mental models of the clients coming to these communities are different. The expectations are different. A linked-in client has a different mental model than a Pinterest or Facebook client. You have to understand your message and pick a platform that matches the mental model of the community there. If the message matches the audience, it can be relevant and sprout roots in the community.

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