4 costly social media mistakes to avoid

Digital

It’s a given that every business has a social media presence. And it’s no secret that we champion the social media cause.

When used correctly the power of social media is undeniable. It’s a great tool to build relationships and interact with your existing and potential customers on a platform they feel comfortable on. However, while many businesses use social media, not all get it right.

You don’t engage your followers

Many businesses understand the need to generate quality and consistent content however fall short of engaging with their audience.

Your social media efforts should establish a two-way connection, so when your audience responds to your content, you should respond too. This can be done by replying to comments, thanking users for sharing or retweeting your content and liking their content in return. The faster you reply and engage, the stronger the relationship with your audience will become.

You’re all about the sales

No one wants to be sold to on social media. You can’t post ad after ad, expecting your followers to stick around. If your followers feel that all of your posts are glorified advertisements, they will find unfollow you.

Find what works well for your audience and focus on engagement rather than sales. Sales will come once credibility and interest has been established.

You don’t make it easy to contact you

Once you’ve established a connection and your audience do want to buy from you, you need to make it easy for them to do so.

Every social media platform provides a place for important contact information such as website, phone number, email address, subscription forms etc. Despite this, many businesses miss out lead generating opportunities by leaving these fields incomplete. Remember: use direct calls-to-actions where they count the most!

You have too many social media channels

There are so many social media platforms that it’s almost impossible to be active on all of them. The biggest social media no no, is creating a social media account and letting it sit dormant. It is far better to have a couple of active, engaged accounts, over multiple mediocre accounts. Identify the platforms best suited to your audience and focus on those

Also, from an operational standpoint, only having a handful of networks makes managing your social media easier.

People are less patient and harder to impress. Constantly bombarded with various marketing messages and promotional offers, attention spans are short.

Although brands can capture attention, it is difficult to maintain. Create a couple of social media accounts most suited to your audience, leverage strong and consistent calls-to-actions, be consistent and proactive and most of all, only share quality, value-led content. When quality and quantity come head to head, quality always wins.