A few days ago, I had a conversation with a member of my client’s team about a task he had been assigned. As a marketing consultant, I’d been working with the team for a few weeks already, with the goal to enhance the output and efficiency of their social media marketing.
Anyway, back to my conversation with this gentleman, who we will refer to as Edward. I found that in our brainstorming meetings and sessions, Edward had some of the most creative ideas. He also had a really engaging approach to community management. However, whenever he was directly assigned a task to execute, he seemed to default to the “tried and trusted” ways of doing things.
Now, this was a major issue. Because the usual ways of doing things were not delivering the desired results. Key performance metrics were low and falling; engagement was less than 0.35%, social traffic to the company’s site was non-existent, even content reach was nothing to write home about.
The question was: why was Edward’s brilliance in brainstorming sessions not translating into brilliance in reality? It turned out, Edward was afraid to fail. He had convinced himself that the consequences of trying and not succeeding were too dire. If he failed, the world would end.
The Fear of Failure: How It Affects Social Media Marketing
Fear of failing is a common challenge in social media marketing, where the pressure to deliver impactful content and achieve measurable results can be intense. Here was Edward dealing with the day-to-day challenges of Lagos living, and suddenly finding these significant expectations of transforming social media performance placed on his shoulders. Where to start from? What if things didn’t go as planned? What if his ideas were just great in a room full of people but were actually crap when executed? How would he cope if he became a laughingstock? The fear of failure had become Edward’s BFF!
Conquering the Fear of Failure in Social Media Marketing
The fear of failure is natural and quite commonplace, especially in a country like Nigeria where a lot of companies do not understand the concept of psychological safety and how this is an important contributor to high-performing teams.
Here are some strategies to tackle this fear:
- Identify the Source: Pinpoint specific fears, which could include negative feedback, wasting budget or causing harm to the brand reputation.
- Adopt a Growth Mindset: Accept failure as part of the learning process, and view challenges as opportunities for growth. Nobody became a master of anything from the first day. Rather than see failure as a death knell, view it as an opportunity to learn and improve.
- Start Small and Define Clear Goals: Launch smaller campaigns to build confidence and learn. Ensure you define clear and realistic goals, and track performance as you execute.
- Research, Analyze and Test: Understand your audience through thorough market research. Compare different content versions and conduct A/B tests to determine what works best for your audience.
- Embrace Feedback and Collaboration: Feedback from the audience and even members of your team can be invaluable. Use feedback constructively to improve strategies. Seek advice and collaborate with experienced members of the team, a mentor or even other professionals around you.
- Continuous Learning: Nothing helps you stay in the game stronger and more confidently than being up to date with industry knowledge. Keep up with trends and developments in the social media marketing space, read credible blogs, join communities and soak up the right information.
Conclusion
Regardless of whether you work in one of the top social media marketing companies in Nigeria or elsewhere, or are an in-house social media manager. The reality is that there are so many challenges social media managers face on a day-to-day basis. The fear of failure is real and hits even the best social media managers. Implementing the strategies outlines above can help to mitigate the fear of failing and build a more confident approach to social media marketing. Never forget that, regardless of its outcome, each effort contributes to overall learning, growth and success.