Social marketers are saying that their biggest goal with social media is to increase awareness and more than half (59%) use social to support their sales and lead generation objectives according to the latest findings from the Sprout Social Index.
Developing a strategy that supports their organisation’s goals is listed as the number one challenge that they face (nearly half of social marketers) and 43% saying that a major challenge is properly identifying and understanding their social audience.
Planning and strategy are even more important than ever for a social media campaign to have true effectiveness and social listening, monitoring your brand’s social media channels for customer feedback and insights, will become even more important, a fact known to social marketers.
According to the report social marketer’s top goals for social include:
- Increase Brand Awareness 70%;
- Sales/Lead Generation 59%;
- Increase Community Engagement 48%;
- Grow My Brand’s Audience;
- Increase Web Traffic 45%.
But how do marketers define engagement when measuring social success? 72% seek likes and/or comments; 62% desire shares and/or retweets; 60% seek interaction with consumers; and 34% desire revenue attribution. Inspiring consumers to take action (32%) and inspiring an emotional response were indicated by 29% of marketers.
What Social Platforms Do Marketers And Consumers Use?
| Marketers Follow Brands On: | Consumers Follow Brands On: |
| Facebook 89% | Facebook 66% |
| Instagram 65% | Instagram 41% |
| Twitter 50% | Twitter 22% |
| Youtube 49% | Youtube 35% |
| Facebook Messenger 44% | Facebook Messenger 13% |
| LinkedIn 38% | LinkedIn 6% |
| Snapchat 28% | Snapchat 14% |
| Pinterest 28% | Pinterest 17% |
89% of marketers say they use Facebook as part of their brand’s social strategy.
What Does Your Audience Want?
To align your goals with consumer actions it is important to know how and why consumers are using social media.
The report revealed:
Why Consumers Follow Brands On Social Media
Why Consumers Unfollow Brands In Social Media
A good understanding of these responses is required to align your social media activity to truly engage with consumers and not alienate them with irrelevant or ‘spammy’ content.
Social Posts That Encourage Consumers Likes And Shares
What sort of posts are likely to elicit a positive response from consumers?
| Type Of Post | Like/Comment On | Share |
| Posts That Entertain | 67% | 55% |
| Posts That Inspire | 57% | 50% |
| Posts That Teach | 46% | 38% |
| Posts That Tell A Story | 38% | 37% |
| Discounts Or Sales | 37% | 38% |
There’s been a shift away by consumers of discounts and sales and a flight to entertaining and inspiring content compared to previous surveys.
Whilst Facebook continues to dominate the social landscape, marketers need to dig deeper to understand their audience and understand that consumers want to be engaged and entertained before they buy.