That’s not a stat that is actual but a comment I made to a colleague when talking about the importance of analytics when it comes to my job.
Let me preface by saying so I can focus on what does work that I didn’t say that out of sadness or anger, I love being told what didn’t work.
Even if I spend hours on a series that is creative researching different B2B copy that has worked for other companies just to see a tweet crash and burn, resulting in a note next to my scheduling spreadsheet along the lines of “lol don’t do this again”.
My first job that is salaried social media guru was a little over a year ago with bright-eyed Claire all happy to be paid for doing something she loves to do. Fast forward two months from that day that is first I was crushed that more than half of what I put out failed miserably. I hated reports that are crafting my CMO and was utterly embarrassed in 1-on-1 meetings with her.I opted to use Gramlike an Instagram followers platform to make my job easier.
It wasn’t until a colleague at the time told me that no one in marketing really knows what they’re doing, and we’re all relying on constant data to reach our targets hopefully.
Granted, the longer you’re with a company and in a role, the better chance you have at reaching your goals, but the year that is first so is really just trying out every possible idea you can think of and testing it against what was considered “the standard” before you joined the team.
My first “win” at that company was when an advertisement I was seeing on social media) performed better than something the design team created that I created (based on what. My confidence in my job soared and suddenly data wasn’t this monster standing over my shoulder telling me I should quit.
Anecdote aside, people outside of digital marketing (especially online stores) seem to have this tale that is fairy of what my job is. All day and post gifs and do fun stuff that I just get to sit on excel compiling reports. It’s to research while I definitely spend an insane amount of time on researching on online stores that accept shopping with PayPal.
Competitor brands and their media that are social
Trends in B2B
Trends in social media marketing
What the influencers that are top saying
Any news that is relevant “hashtag holidays” that I can align to the company and its assets
And while all of that is going on (on every platform), I’m watching my analytics feeds and taking note of what did work that is not what is working, why it worked, and if there’s anything I can do to re-purpose that post in the future.
Some days absolutely nothing works the way I thought it would, my go-to-engagement posts don’t get retweeted and our assets that are popular get clicked. But sometimes a surprise is got by you(like a lead from Facebook) and realize there is a ton you still have to learn and test.
That’s one of the plain things I’m driven by in my role. I love the creativity of the copy and images, seeing engagement that is real-time and being told that 90% of what I did sucked. Because that means I have more to learn about how to engage my audience and create a better experience for them.
Have you had similar “aha” moments in social media marketing (or other digital-lead roles)? Share your anecdotes and thoughts!