Making mistakes on social media can cost you followers and engagement, and ultimately, sales. It’s surprising how often we see different companies making the exact same mistakes.
Here are some of the most common social media marketing fails:
Being inconsistent. This is the big one. Social media consistency means showing up on the platform you choose to participate in regularly. And not just “showing up”. Generate content for it. Engage with others on it. That is how you build a consistent brand on social media.
Talking about yourself all the time. Nobody likes someone who talks about themselves all the time. We all understand that your business is important to you, and may very much be your whole life. But really, who cares?? You need to bring value to your audience, not just try to sell them stuff all the time, or brag about how awesome you are.
Not being visually stimulating. Written posts are great, but visual content is better. Integrate some visual content into your social media posts so that your followers don’t get bored.
Not being human. People buy from people, not corporations or robots. So be personable. Talk people up. Strike up conversations. Make jokes. Be human.
Not interacting with your audience. Not being social on social media is like holding a press conference and refusing to answer any questions. Take advantage of your social media accounts by asking questions, sharing, and responding to your followers.
Ignoring negative comments/reviews. A good social media marketer takes the time to respond to both positive and negative feedback. 25% of consumers who use social media to complain about a product or experience expect a response within one hour of that complaint. When angry customers don’t receive a response, they (and the rest of your followers) get the feeling that you don’t care about their experience. It is much better to respond politely to negative posts and to take the conversation away from the Facebook page by giving the commenter another way to reach you. You have the ability to remove posts, but we don’t recommend this unless people are being deliberately vulgar or inflammatory on your page.
Not learning from analytics. Stats have a lot to teach you–regularly make time to check them out and see what you’re doing right, what you’re doing wrong, and learn from both.
If this article has done nothing else, I hope it has proved to you that your social media presence needs to be taken seriously, and that means avoiding gaffes like those listed above. In over your head? Our team of professionals are always here to help. Learn more about our Social Media Marketing services!
