How have you been using social media to promote your business? How have you been implementing your social media strategy? Social media isn’t just about sending a few Tweets and posting a few things on Facebook. If done right, you can drastically increase traffic to your site, bump up customer spending, and create brand ambassadors that spread positive word of mouth all around the web.
Here are a few common mistakes you should note and avoid when it comes to managing your social media channels:
1. Ignoring Social Media
Busy entrepreneurs choose to focus on what they consider to be more pressing priorities, and sideline their social media channels because they do not see the business value or they consider it to be a distraction. It’s important to know that social media is an invaluable tool, and to aid growth you should have an active presence on both your personal and business accounts.
Social media platforms host the world’s largest focus group, most affordable customer service and marketing platform, and can be very cost-effective at generating leads and sales.
If you’re a busy entrepreneur, you can outsource management of your personal and/or business profiles to social media consultants or agencies.
2. Talking More Than Listening
Social media is much more of a conversation than anything. The whole point of being on social media is engaging with other people, but it’s common to see people make the mistake of not engaging with others. Most of the contents they share are promotional contents about their businesses.
As a general rule, make sure that four out of every five communications on social media are non-sales or business posts. If you find yourself being too promotional, try being helpful with others in your niche and sharing helpful content not only from yourself, but from other people as well. Take a couple of minutes every day to find out what’s going on with your followers and engage them. You’ll find that you’ll start to ‘get’ social media a lot better once you start doing so.
3. Inappropriate content
A number of people jump into social media without having a sound content strategy. The kind of content you post would determine your progress on that particular social media platform, and how it’ll contribute to your business growth. You should also note that growing your social media takes patience and persistence. Post frequently. You can’t post once a week — or less — and expect people to come flocking to your door to buy your products/services.
Your social media content should factor in the overall objective, audience/consumer preferences, platform requirements and the overall marketplace. Do not post for the sake of it, listen to what your audience is interested in and post relevant content that is up to date and that sparks meaningful interaction. Create engaging content that resonates with your brand and one that’ll keep your brand in the minds of your audience.
4. Inconsistent branding
Many businesses make the mistake of having one look, feel and message on their web site, but then totally different ones on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn profiles. Presenting one consistent brand in logo, look and message is critical. To do this, use only one or two photos for all your social media sites.
Customize your Twitter and Facebook backgrounds using elements from your website. Keep the keywords and core descriptions of who you are and what you do relatively the same across all sites. Also make sure all information is up to date and current.
5. Not figuring out where your audience is
A particular social media platform might look attractive to you, so you decide to just jump in. Many make the mistake of also setting up profiles on all social media platforms they come across. You need to be where your audience is.
Make a plan or sit down with someone who can help you make a plan about what social media channels align with your goals as an organization. Time is money and the more channels you are active on, the more time they require for upkeep. Take a look at each channel and understand what audience is active on that network and if they match your customer base and your company’s messaging.
6. Not looking in the mirror
Have your social media efforts been paying off? Have your goals been achieved. A number of people make the mistake of just focusing on keeping their businesses active on social media without monitoring progress and taking a look at what should be adjusted.
Monitoring your progress will help you to focus on things that actually move the needle. If something doesn’t work, change it. is the most popular social media dashboard that allows you to manage and measure your social networks. It’s good for any sized company and offers a basic plan that’s free.
7. Treating all social media sites the same
Many businesses make the mistake of simultaneously blasting the exact same message across Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, not realizing that this comes across as fake, impersonal or spam-like. You should note that each social media channel has its own language, customs and audience, and to avoid coming across as fake or like a banner ad, make the effort to understand how each individual platform works and tailor their messages and content to be platform specific.
Let us know what you think of these tips!
