Information in this Blog Post was obtained from AgoraPulse, HubSpot, and Zapier.
When thinking of managing social media marketing, many think of a single marketer who manages several different social media accounts. However, it is common that an organization's social media presence requires more heads than one. When managing a group of individuals, in an effort to keep a unified social media image a social media manager is needed to coordinate the efforts of the team.
What is a Social Media Marketing Team?
The roles within a social media marketing team can consist of many different tasks. Today's climate requires teams to be flexible based on your business's own individual needs. While there is not a specific description for every social media team, generally each team will focus on growing the business by creating content, and advertisements, while engaging with the target audience on social media platforms. Team members will generally require a proficient understanding of marketing and content creation.
Social media marketing can be a powerful tool for your business. Allowing you to reach a large audience, engage with potential customers, and build brand awareness. Social media platforms provide a cost-effective way to promote your products or services, and you can target specific demographics to ensure your message reaches the right people. Overall, properly managing your social media marketing will increase your brand visibility, generate leads, and drive sales, this is why competently managing the team who oversees these actions is vital for businesses.
5 Mistakes Made by Social Media Marketing Teams
1.) Lack of Defining Roles
Many marketing teams become redundant with a lack of defined roles and expectations. While redundancy may seem good, you may find this actually leads to tasks being missed, or even disagreements among team members. This can create a "someone else will get it done" attitude or a feeling of toes being stepped on. In order to avoid this each social media marketing team will require a certain number of members based on whether the company is small, medium, or large. If you are struggling to categorize how big your business is here is a table with information obtained from HubSpot.
Small to Medium Sized Business | Midsized Business | Enterprise |
5-100 employees | 101-1,000 employees | 1,000+ employees |
2.) Have you discussed the organization's goals with your team?
This is crucial for a team member to see the bigger picture of their efforts. Are we just posting to post, is your organization aiming to achieve a certain number of followers or a certain percentage of sales? With no clear direction, the team may quickly become off track.
3.) Algorithm Incompetence
What is an Algorithm? If you are unsure, don't worry it is all too common for marketers to to be unfamiliar with this term. According to HubSpot, Each social media platform has its own algorithm for its news feed or home page that determines what content is prioritized. The algorithms consider factors like engagement and time spent on the platform. The more you engage with certain content, the more likely it is to appear in your feed. Spending more time on the platform allows the algorithm to learn your preferences and show you relevant ads. Getting your social media team to understand the inner workings of each social media site's algorithm will ensure more engagement.
4.) Resource Deficiency
An Algorithm reveals you must post a 4 a.m. to get the greatest results, ideally, we will not be having our team wait up to send a post. Many platforms have features like this already built in however some do not. This is where software that enables for Social Media maximization. Resources such as Buffer, Hootsuite, and Sprout have all emerged as valuable tools for managing social media accounts.
5.) Community Disconnect
Posting into the void? This is a plausible reason that you are lacking engagement on your platforms. In order to engage more users you must emphasize engagement from your side as well. Is your business following other businesses, do you follow users with a large following? Ask yourself in what ways your team is connecting with your target audience. Check your engagement statistics to compare post reach and engagement.
How to Fix Your Social Media Marketing Team's Mistakes
When seeking a fix for your social media marketing team, take a step back and re-evaluate your established roles. It may not be an easy fix, sometimes requiring multiple tactics to be deployed upon your team. Common tips to fix problems occurring within your social media marketing team
Open Communication
Setting the example of open and honest communication within the team. Create an environment where team members feel comfortable discussing mistakes and sharing ideas for improvement. This fosters a culture of learning and growth. In order to promote constant communication between team members it is beneficial for both on-site and at-home employees to have a designated software to facilitate communication. According to Zapier, these are the top 10 services being used for teams.
Training and Evaluation
Invest in ongoing training and development programs for the team. Social media platforms and trends are constantly evolving, so it's important to keep the team updated with the latest industry practices. This helps to minimize mistakes and ensures the team is equipped with the necessary skills. In addition to this conduct regular evaluations of the team's performance and campaigns. Identifying areas where mistakes are occurring and analyzing the root causes will help ensure success. This evaluation process allows you to in patterns and implement corrective measures.
Clear Guidelines and Processes
Establish clear guidelines and processes for social media marketing activities. This includes content creation, scheduling, posting, and engagement. Having well-defined processes reduces the chances of mistakes and ensures consistency across platforms.
Learn from Competitors
Keep an eye on competitors' social media activities. Analyze their successes and failures to gain insights and avoid making similar mistakes. This competitive analysis can provide valuable lessons for your own team's improvement.
Minimize the Technology Gap
Social media is a dynamic landscape, so it's important to adapt and evolve with the changing trends. Stay updated with the latest features, algorithms, and user behaviors. This allows the team to make informed decisions and avoid common pitfalls. Implement tools and systems to monitor social media platforms for any issues or mistakes.
Synopsis
A social media marketing team is a group of individuals who work together to create content and advertisements in order to portray a brand's persona while engaging with your target audience on social media platforms. To fix mistakes made by your social media marketing team, start by encouraging open communication. Create an environment where team members feel comfortable discussing mistakes and sharing improvement ideas. Use communication software like Slack, Zoom, or Google Drive to facilitate non-stop communication. Invest in ongoing training and evaluation to keep the team updated and identify areas for improvement. Establish clear guidelines and processes to ensure consistency. Learn from competitors and minimize the technology gap. All of these tips will help steer your social media marketing team in the right direction.
Resources
Carmicheal, K. (2023, March 17). How to Structure a Kick-Ass Marketing Team for Any Company. Blog.hubspot.com.https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30734/how-to-structure-a-kick-ass-marketing-team-for-any-company.aspx
Cox, L. K. (2021, November 8). How the News Feed Algorithms Work on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. Blog.hubspot.com. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-algorithm-works-facebook-twitter-instagram
Day, C. (2022, December 20). How to Build the Best Social Media Team for Your Business. Agorapulse. https://www.agorapulse.com/blog/social-media-team/
Peterson, T. (2018, October 23). Online collaboration tools you should know. Zapier. https://zapier.com/blog/collaboration-apps/
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