04 May Anonymous Rants of A Social Media Marketer
The life of a social media marketer is something that we know very well at Ignite Social Media. You may have noticed that we’ve even put together a series on what a typical day looks like in the various disciplines we have here within our agency.
- A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYST
- A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST
- A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SOCIAL MEDIA BUYER
- A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT PRODUCER
- A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN INFLUENCER RELATIONS SPECIALIST
- A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER AT IGNITE SOCIAL MEDIA
- A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE AT A SOCIAL MEDIA AGENCY
One area that we come across each day failed to get its mention, but we’re shining the light on it here. What are the complaints that we hear most often from our clients, our peers and maybe even by the coffee machine in our kitchen? To protect the innocent (and avoid listing out a long string of names) we’ve kept these rants anonymous and will give you our perspective on how to find the positive in these social media marketing frustrations.
Anonymous Rant #1: “My Small Brand Can’t Do What Big Brands Do”
While it may be frustrating at times to not be able to gain the amount of engagement on your photo of a cupcake as they do on luxury auto brands, the good news is that you’re likely spending your time in the right place. Unlike television, print or other traditional forms of marketing, the size of your budget on social media does not mean that you can’t hang with the big dogs. By building a community, finding like-minded consumers and creating posts that resonate with their passions, you’ll be able to connect directly and build relationships. When your content is strong, an optimized ad spend is your best friend. You’ll be able to spend at a comfortable rate and get the analytics back to KNOW that you’re reaching the people you want instead of hoping they listened to your 30-second ad during morning drive time radio. Your biggest advantage in this space may just be your small size! Big dogs tend to move slowly. The bigger the brand, the more likely they are to have red tape, processes, and too many cooks in the kitchen. As a smaller brand, you can move more quickly and take more time to build deeper relationships with your social media community members.
Anonymous Rant # 2: “My Big Brand Can’t Do What Small Brands Do”
Small, sleek, nimble, and agile are probably words that are not typically used to describe your business. Whether it’s an old-guard standing in opposition of social media marketing or too many stakeholders looking at each of the 140 characters in a tweet, you have your own set of problems. Fear not, you also have a lot to be happy about! A bigger brand name usually affords you some things that smaller brands don’t have in their back pocket. Namely history, a large group of brand evangelists and a budget that lets you take a “crazy idea that just might work” to reality. When you have had brand enthusiasts for as long as you have, you know their passions and you know what drives them to take action. The trick now is to take what you know and move it to a new discipline…and get buy-in along the way from your internal team. You have the opportunity to make a splash and achieve great things on a big stage, so make the most of it!
Anonymous Rant #3: “I miss the good old days”
You’re a social media marketer from way back in the day (2007) and remember the good old days when your posts showed up in every fan’s newsfeed and you only had one or two iterations of the Facebook Algorithm committed to memory. Times have changed. Organic only is not a strategy that makes sense for you or your clients. Just because “things aren’t the way they used to be,” doesn’t mean that you have to stay tied to the way you’ve always done it. You have a leg-up on the competition because you have the history of what has changed and why it changed. You’ve had to adapt so often that it no longer feels like adapting at all. To you, the fast pace of the industry is just a normal Tuesday. Don’t buy into that voice that says you can’t teach and old dog new tricks. The old dog has plenty of tricks up his sleeve still…and he’s the one doing the teaching.
What causes you the most frustration in your social media marketing? Let us know below and we’ll try to help you see the opportunity it’s really presenting!
