Most social media marketers view Facebook as their most important platform, yet most marketers struggle for success and find it difficult to measure effectiveness on the network. Most marketers believe their Facebook marketing is not effective or cannot quantify how well it’s working.
Nearly two-thirds of marketers (62 percent) chose Facebook as their most important social media platform, followed by LinkedIn (16 percent) and Twitter (9 percent), according to Social Media Examiner’s 2017 Social Media Marketing Industry Report.
Only 42 percent of marketers feel that their Facebook efforts are working, a decrease from 46 percent in 2016. Just over half of the marketers surveyed said they saw declines in their Facebook news feed exposure over the past year, and practically all either have seen a decline or are not sure if they have.
The Measurement Quest
The inability to measure social media marketing programs is not confined only to Facebook. Only 38 percent of marketers say they can measure their social activities. The ROI issue has plagued marketers for years. Slightly fewer say they can measure social media ROI than last year.
The overwhelming majority of marketers (89 percent) want to know more about how to measure their ROI for social media activities. Measuring ROI is one of marketers’ top quests after determining the most effective tactics and finding the best ways to engage their audience.
Marketers’ inability to measure ROI is not the only reason for their lack of confidence in their Facebook strategies, writes copywriter Michelle Krasniak for Social Media Examiner. The network admitted it miscalculated metrics last year. It overestimated the amount of time users spend watching videos by as much as 60 to 80 percent and had mistakes in its engagement metrics. While it fixed the problems, the mistakes called into question the overall effectiveness of its measurement.
The underlying issue is that Facebook permits only a handful of vendors to handle its data sharing, Krasniak says. Companies want to choose data partners they can trust.
Why Stick with Facebook?
Marketers’ inability to achieve effective Facebook marketing and analytics raises a significant question, she argues. Are social media marketers sticking with Facebook because of its enormous user base, despite their inability to prove ROI, in hopes of something soon changes?
A surprising 93 percent of social marketers regularly use Facebook ads and 64 percent plan to increase Facebook advertising, according to the Social Media Marketing Industry Report. However, Facebook ads may be losing their effectiveness. After an advertising explosion, Facebook news feeds are running out of space for ads. The ads will become more expensive as competition increases, and consumers will experience ad fatigue. More ads will go unnoticed as consumers become overwhelmed by their numbers and frequencies.
With unconvincing measurement and cluttered advertising on Facebook, many marketers are likely to begin searching elsewhere for ways to attract and engage consumers on social media.
Bottom Line: Marketers certainly like Facebook, but Facebook doesn’t seem to like them. Even though most marketers believe it’s an essential platform, promoting their messages and measuring the effectiveness of their strategies presents ongoing challenges.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
