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The Top 8 Social Media Challenges for Small Businesses

By May 6, 2022November 20th, 2023No Comments

social media challenges

Social media continues to grow in popularity, with around seven in ten Americans now using social media platforms to connect. Moreover, growing technology creates social media challenges and circumstances that stifle business growth. Nevertheless, strategies and plans in place can overcome these obstacles.

Social media challenges include creating content, standing out among the competition, and stagnating growth. Tackling these marketing challenges accordingly, with strategic planning and teamwork, will change the course of marketing efforts.

Here are the top eight social media challenges and how to fix them!

1. Creating Content

Creating high-quality content on a regular basis will help mitigate many of the social media challenges small businesses are currently dealing with. Accordingly, understanding the audience to whom you’re targeting is key to your content creation strategy. Great content keeps consumers engaged, which consequently results in business growth.

Find content ideas by following news reports and a competitor’s social media accounts. Reading trade journals relevant to the industry helps uncover valuable insights and credible research. Similarly, finding ways to implement relevant data and case studies to your audience results in a strong content methodology.

Effective content creation for a website also has the potential to build backlinks. A marketing strategy with backlinks means articles appear on other websites. Moreover, users will then link back to your business’s site, thus boosting traffic.

2. Standing Out

Being positively unique amid strong competition will undoubtedly attract attention as people scroll through their social media accounts. For example, creating Tik Tok videos that are distinctly different from everyone else’s will help distinguish your brand in a way that makes viewers want more content from you.

What are your competitors doing? Are they using Facebook for all of their content? If they have similar products or services, rather than being like them, try marketing on LinkedIn. Alternatively, if your target audience spends most of their time looking at pictures and videos, try using Instagram to build your brand.

Ensure that your content and brand are fun and relatable to increase engagement. Create connections between you and your potential clients and customers by using quizzes and competitions.

Another way to stand out in your social media marketing strategy is to perfect your grammar and spelling. Posts full of spelling mistakes and problems with language will force readers elsewhere.

3. Stagnating Growth

Stagnation is a social media challenge that many businesses face. Drop-offs in followers, engagements, and shares will quickly show when social media accounts are no longer growing.

Figure out what is preventing your social accounts from growing. Could your content be improved? Are you using too many hashtags or is wordiness the problem? Accordingly, take a look at the posting schedule to reach more people at different times during the day.

Add more visual content such as illustrations and photographs to attract attention. People will stop and look when there’s an attractive picture on their social media feed. Regardless if your business is manufacturing or education, having an excellent visual strategy is critical.

4. Choosing Platforms

A social media marketing strategy should involve multiple platforms. However, investigate if they work collectively and at the same intensity.

Each platform comes with different pros and cons and quite possibly different audiences. Take the time to figure out what marketing challenges arise with each platform. Is one better for photographs, or is another better for posting articles?

Sit down with your social media team to discuss social media marketing and look at the data accordingly. Find out the origination of organic traffic.

Use the same content, but repurpose it differently for different platforms. Present the same information in separate posts but use contrasting graphics and colors.

5. Targeting Your Audience

Social media allows targeting audiences to reach the right people in specific ways. Ads, for example, can be set for some geographic regions.

Do the research. What’s the age bracket that uses social media accounts the most? What’s the engagement process?

Sometimes, social media platforms are popular in specific geographic regions.

Choose the opportunity to target the audience through surveys or email marketing. Ask direct questions to people about what they want to see and the content they want to read.

Nevertheless, understanding and targeting your audience will help you get better results.

6. Handling a Crisis

Businesses may operate from 8 AM to 5 PM, but social media works around the clock. Be aware of people posting content that could harm the company.

Social media teams must respond to the crisis quickly. Posts that criticize the handling of a customer service problem linger online, but people can see if you’ve attempted to resolve the issues quickly.

7. Hacking

As remote working increases, hacking and cyberattacks are up almost 150 %. Consider increasing the security so the network is safe for clients and customers.

Hackers can get into a system and steal clients’ and customers’ identities and personal information. Consequently, putting a plan in place to protect such information is critical.

Once there is an attack, it’s essential to be upfront with users about the stolen information. Do what’s possible to minimize harm.

8. Checking Facts

Playing fast and loose with facts will ruin a brand and credibility more quickly than anything. Verifying the facts in your social media posts is critically important in keeping the trust of your followers.

Check the facts in several ways, whether that means someone from the outside or have another set of eyes looking at posts. Randomly checking the information in posts is also a good strategy.

Only take information from government data, educational institutions, and foundations. Moreover, well-researched information will stand out and will increase shares on social media accounts.

Social Media Challenges and How You Can Fix Them

Social media trends present many challenges, including creating content, standing out, and stagnating growth. Choosing platforms, targeting your audience, and handling a crisis are also social media challenges. Be wary of hacking and checking facts.

Navigating these issues will achieve success in a social media marketing strategy.

Contact us today to rejuvenate a social media strategy. Boost your profile and marketing efforts by overcoming any social media challenges that stand in your way!