Top 6 Social Media Marketing Challenges in 2024, According to 1,500+ Marketers [+ How to Face Them]

I’m not judge which societal level is winning nan algorithmic gymnastics title this year. Is it Instagram? Maybe TikTok?

Either way, it seems for illustration each of our favourite channels are actively competing for gold, which presents rather nan scope of societal media trading challenges for us.

From algo updates to unpredictable trends, we’re ever near wondering: Which platforms will supply nan highest return? Where's our assemblage hanging retired now? And really tin we create contented they’re really willing in?

These are each adjacent questions. In fact, our latest societal trends report shows that they’ve manifested into nan biggest challenges societal media marketers are facing this year.

Here’s what nan information says.

Top 6 Social Media Marketing Challenges successful 2024

1. Creating engaging content.

As personification who creates content, I tin show you firsthand that creating bully contented is hard. And nan modular for bully contented is always changing.

It looks for illustration I’m not unsocial successful this reasoning because our study shows that 17% of marketers said creating engaging content would beryllium their biggest situation this year.

The cardinal to high-quality contented creation is gathering your assemblage astatine nan intersection of what they attraction astir about and what’s trending connected their favourite platforms.

Sprinkle successful a fewer fickle societal algorithms, and you’ve created 1 of nan astir analyzable recipes of each time.

That’s why it’s nary astonishment to maine that this feels for illustration a unit constituent for marketers.

How to Overcome This Challenge

Rachael Samuels, head of societal media astatine Sprout Social, believes dedicating time, resources, and headcount towards societal media is captious for semipermanent success.

As she puts it, “The societal scenery is becoming progressively saturated pinch caller networks and seemingly endless imaginable audiences to engage. Social teams of 1 are nary longer capable to support up pinch nan demand.”

Samuels adds, “As user preferences and expectations proceed to grow, societal marketers require greater finance successful their teams and resources to beryllium successful.

Brands must guarantee societal is prioritized arsenic a captious connection instrumentality and supply their teams pinch nan resources needed to nutrient creative, relevant, and authentic content.”

As a erstwhile societal media squad of one, I wholeheartedly work together that deficiency of clip and resources are blockers for contented creation.

However, if you’re not successful a position to summation your societal media headcount, present are a fewer much ways you tin hit nan engaging contented challenge:

• Repurpose contented crossed channels to get nan astir bang for your buck. For example, return 1 of your 1,800-word blog posts and rework it into punchy short-form contented for channels for illustration Instagram aliases TikTok. HubSpot’s free AI paragraph rewriter is awesome for this.
• Use societal media AI tools to streamline contented planning, creation, and posting crossed your societal channels — and to unfastened up clip for much creativity.
• Pull tips from nan video beneath connected really to create an effective societal media contented calendar:

2. Keeping up pinch features and algorithm updates.

I already mentioned nan fickle societal algorithm, and present it is again, rearing its not-so-pleasant caput successful situation number two.

Our information shows that 16% of marketers are having problem keeping up pinch caller societal media features and algorithm updates.

After looking astatine conscionable 1 illustration of Facebook’s algorithm from Meta, I get it. (Not nan algorithm, but why this is giving societal media marketers a headache.)

Source

And coming from a blogger who has been softly beefing pinch Google complete their all-too-regular algorithm changes, you tin spot and judge that I understand nan struggle.

How to Overcome This Challenge

As marketers, we can’t extremity nan algorithms from changing. But we tin return steps to beryllium proactive, enactment informed, and set our contented to meet caller demands. Here’s how:

• Get to cognize nan algorithms connected your astir often utilized channels. It’ll beryllium easier to navigate nan changes if you already cognize nan basics astir really things operate.
• Stay up to day connected nan latest algorithm changes. Sources for illustration HubSpot (cough, cough), Sprout Social, and Hootsuite are awesome resources here.
• Create content your assemblage wants to prosecute with. Content relevance is simply a large ranking facet for astir algorithms, sloppy of platform.
• Post connected societal media astatine nan correct time. The much engagement, nan amended your chances of showing up in-feed — truthful drawback your assemblage online early and often.

3. Finding ideas for caller content.

Based connected our survey, 16% of marketers besides reported that uncovering ideas for caller content is simply a large situation this year.

Why? It tin beryllium exhausting (and tricky) to consistently transportation caller ideas for societal platforms, particularly erstwhile they already consciousness overcrowded pinch content.

Luckily, we’re astatine a constituent now wherever we tin pat AI to thief make caller contented ideas if we’re emotion stuck. In fact, nan beneath ChatGPT punctual is 1 of my favorites arsenic a writer:

“Give maine [number] of [content type] ideas astir [topic] that would entreaty to [target audience].”

Here it is pinch nan blanks filled in: “Give maine 5 blog station ideas astir societal media that would entreaty to marketers successful 2024.”

And here’s nan consequence I got:

I besides talked to an master astir this situation — let’s spot what she recommends.

How to Overcome This Challenge

Christina Garnett, erstwhile main trading head astatine HubSpot, suggests researching what already exists erstwhile looking for caller ideas.

"When trying to find nan caller you must devour and spot what benignant of contented is already disposable and past look for spread opportunities.

Are location questions not being answered? Different perspectives not being shared? Maybe nan contented exists but not successful a format that is tailored for a circumstantial learner aliases audience," says Garnett.

She adds, "Once you find what you tin create, you request to find who needs it, and really it tin champion beryllium packaged to amended their experience. Content has nan aforesaid request to find product-market fresh arsenic products and solutions do.”

4. Reaching their target audience.

Up next, 15% of marketers besides identified reaching their target audience arsenic 1 of their apical societal media challenges.

Creating engaging contented and uncovering caller ideas is great, but what’s nan constituent if your assemblage ne'er sees it? (Like if a character falls successful nan forest, and nary 1 is astir to perceive it … )

The bully news is we already person a awesome portion connected nan blog that explains how to find your societal media target audience. I’ll summarize a fewer of nan action items below.

How to Overcome This Challenge

• Identify aliases create buyer personas. Think astir who your existent customers are. What are their jobs? Age? Income?
• Find retired wherever your assemblage is astir active. This will thief you prioritize which societal media platforms to attraction on.
• Look astatine your competitors. Who are they appealing to? Who's responding to their posts and engaging pinch them?
• Survey your customers. Ask what type of contented they consume, what societal media sites they like, aliases who they follow.

Then, usage each of this info to meet them wherever they are connected social.

5. Creating contented that generates leads.

Lead procreation is besides proving to beryllium a hurdle successful 2024. 14% of those surveyed study creating contented that generates leads arsenic a apical societal media situation this year.

Lead procreation is simply a occupation each connected its own. Group that pinch contented creation, inclination monitoring, and organization management, and you’ve conscionable described nan duties of nan quintessential societal media marketer.

To return immoderate of nan unit off, here’s really you tin build a beardown social media lead gen strategy.

How to Overcome This Challenge

To start, see driving your assemblage from definite societal platforms backmost to dedicated landing pages, aliases way clicks connected circumstantial CTAs for each of your societal media campaigns.

Let’s opportunity you're moving a run aimed astatine driving gross towards a caller merchandise offering, create a merchandise landing page and nexus to it connected each of your societal profiles. That way, you tin way really galore clicks travel from each page, and change your strategy accordingly.

For example, if you’re seeing astir clicks coming from Facebook, that whitethorn bespeak that it’s a bully thought to put paid advertizing down your Facebook strategy.

Speaking of paid advertising, societal media ads and influencer trading are besides powerful ways to generate leads done societal media.

Talkwalker's erstwhile CMO Elena Melnikova emphasizes nan value of reference nan room erstwhile creating ads for societal media:

“Too commercial, and this young assemblage will scroll past your brand, looking for nan adjacent creation routine. Read nan room. Follow nan trends. Be spontaneous,” notes Melnikova.

And erstwhile it comes to influencer marketing, Melnikova says:

“Savvy brands will activity pinch influencers to create content. And pinch nan mostly of TikTok influencers being Gen Z, they‘ll understand really to guarantee their contented stands out, and summation a brand’s engagement figures.”

6. Keeping up pinch caller trends.

Last but surely not least, our information shows that 14% of marketers cited keeping up pinch caller trends as 1 of their apical challenges for this year.

At this point, almost everything materializes arsenic a inclination — whether it’s a caller platform, an aged meme, aliases moreover conscionable a sound (I’m looking astatine you, TikTok).

But nan reality is this: Every inclination isn’t a bully fresh for each brand.

Sometimes nan most celebrated societal platform isn’t nan correct spot to find your audience. Or possibly your customers aren’t acquainted with, and truthful wouldn’t appreciate, that trending building that everyone is utilizing successful their videos this week.

(For example, I said “sometimes, you request to eat an full cucumber” to my mom yesterday, and she had nary thought what I was talking about. Shoutout to @logagm connected TikTok.)

The changeless struggle betwixt what’s existent and what resonates pinch your assemblage makes it difficult to find which trends to pat into.

How to Overcome This Challenge

I person 2 nuggets of proposal for this one.

First, find a measurement to support a beat of nan latest societal media trends.

Follow manufacture leaders for illustration Sprout Social, motion up for master newsletters for illustration The Marketing Millennials, aliases spot what your assemblage is presently talking astir connected forum sites for illustration Reddit.

Also, way nan latest news and releases from your favourite societal media channels (or curate a web of insiders for illustration Annie-Mai Hodge connected LinkedIn) to beryllium nan first to cognize astir caller features and algorithm updates.

The 2nd is to take nan methods pinch nan highest ROI. And if you don’t cognize how, return a look astatine HubSpot's free instruction connected How to Measure Social Media ROI to study more.

Like I said earlier, it’s not worthy it for every marque to hop connected every trend. If it tin necktie backmost to your audience’s interests and your biggest business outcomes, you’re successful nan correct place.

Challenge(s) Accepted

There you person it! The six biggest challenges that societal media teams are facing successful 2024.

Now that you cognize which challenges you’re up against, return nan clip to brainstorm solutions that will thief you level up your societal media strategy — for adjacent twelvemonth and beyond.

Editor's note: This station was primitively published successful November 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.