We were fortunate to be in the right place at the right time in the early days and it has been an exciting journey guiding some of the biggest companies in the world along with developing tech and performing ongoing research that has changed the game in many ways, and we wanted to highlight the importance of understanding human behaviors on social media in this post.

First and foremost, there’s a clear distinction that has to be made between social media marketing and social media advertising, and many times companies that gravitate towards advertising on social channels means one of two things:
1) They’re seeing a huge opportunity in XYZ areas via ads/conversions so it makes sense to put more money into that
2) Organic social media marketing efforts aren’t paying off so there’s a need to boost them via ads due to such

Looking at the above and the second point in particular, it’s unfortunate but most companies are failing today on social media because they don’t understand the roots – the core of why social media was created for people to be social – and have adopted the mindset that social media marketing is now a form of advertising, though that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

The fact is, social media was founded on the principle of connecting people with common interests and over time executives at companies, marketing departments, outside contractors living in their parents’ basement and others have all become social media experts today. And with all of that confusion how do you cut through the white noise?

And the first few steps are to identify the most common social media marketing issues/failures happening regularly now:

The Social Media Marketing Agency Houdini Effect
Similar to a magician, and after analyzing then fixing hundreds of campaigns, we’ve noticed a recurring theme where social media agencies (and their clients) feel they’re special/magical then unfortunately things fail in the end almost every time. It’s unfortunate, but no different than spending 5% of the time it should take to build a safe/stable building then being surprised when it falls down in the end.

The CEO, Marketing Executive That Will Never Fail
Tying back to the above, we have found executives that aren’t open to change and think they’re always right to be one of the biggest downfalls (essentially failures) for companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500s and sometimes you have to take a step back, look at the big picture then eventually make tough decisions at times. Who is really qualified and devoted to winning in the end?

Taking the Shiny Object Approach vs Creating Your Own Waves
Looking at social media marketing today as a perfect example, a vast majority of content created is based on trends occurring that spark businesses to jump on that bandwagon, however the most successful companies in the world are those that create their own trends/waves and that’s really what businesses need to be focused on now.

Instead of appearing as an influencer that’s creating waves, you’re spending money/resources on the shiny object approach which, to savvy people in the industry, looks silly and is obvious to us as well as your customers.

Finding Strategic Ways to Add Value, Educate Your Customers
Taking the me approach (always talking about your business/goals and trying to sell your services) will never work in the end, and all true relationships are built on mutually beneficial foundations.

Imagine that friend that always asks you for something and you keep giving, though you’ve never seen anything in return and know you can’t rely on them versus having close friends that will do anything for you. Looking at social media, which friends would you prefer?

Additionally, outside of relationships, creating a presence that adds true value and educates people. The element of giving back.

The main point is: If your company wants to be successful with social media marketing you have to understand human behaviors, put yourself in their shoes, and be open to change regardless of the pushback you may get from internal and external teams. There’s a time to draw a line in the sand then choose to make a difference.