Social media is quickly becoming the gateway of news, communication and everything in between – so much so that we now spend a third of our internet time on the channels.
We are already aware of the basics; post valuable content, post often and answer any questions, but if you’re looking to improve your social media even further, then this article will give you 7 things you need to steer clear of. Falling victim to any of these pointers can be extremely damaging to your social strategy.
Don’t worry if you feel like you’ve accidentally been guilty to one of these points – this will help you avoid them for the future and build a successful social strategy.
1. Don’t focus too much on getting more followers.
We don’t run promotions or campaigns that merely aim to grow the number of followers for our page, as they seem short-sighted. It may add some numbers to your page, yes, but at what quality are these followers. Are they likely to become leads?
It’s the quality of your followers that are important, not the quantity.
If you often engage and share valuable content, your audience will grow on its own.
2. Don’t get defensive.
I mentioned in an earlier article two weeks ago about negative comments and replying to them rather than ignoring or deleting them. I always recommend responding to all your comments whether they’re positive or negative, but when it comes to a negative comment, try not to get too defensive.
I can understand that, as your business, you are passionate about your service and it’s not great to hear negative comments, but before you reply – be calm and collective. If you jump in at the wrong time, you might send the wrong message.
If a customer has clearly had a bad experience with your service or product, however, and needs customer service help, respond as soon as possible.
3. Don’t just tweet during working hours.
Posting content during your working hours is great, but, your community and target audience will be active on social media social outside of work hours – in fact, they will probably be more active. This is said especially during nights and weekends.
Posting during the evening and on weekends (outside of regular office hours) will drive more engagement to your posts.
If you are posting outside of your regular working hours, be sure to keep an eye on any replies. You don’t want to have a customer comment on a new post and then not receive a response for 24 hours. Keep an eye on your engagement and do your best to be responsive.
4. Don’t have simple passwords.
When creating your business pages, it may be accessible by a number of your team. This usually means making the password for your accounts easy and memorable. But this can draw in the wrong kind accessing your social media accounts and causing you some trouble.
Keep your passwords hard to hack and only give them out to your team who will access the account.
Also, if an employee leaves your business, be sure to change your passwords so it stays within the business.
5. Don’t post the same content across all channels
Just uploaded a great post on Facebook? Awesome – but don’t go posting it on all of your other accounts, too. This probably sounds a bit strange doesn’t it? But let me explain…
If you post the same content as you do on Facebook on your Twitter and Instagram, too, then what is the point in people following you across all channels – they may aswell just follow one, right?
The same content throughout eliminates any incentive for people to follow you on multiple channels. Keep each channel fresh and bring in more quality followers.
6. Don’t just use social media to post content
Posting on social media is obviously the main quality, but that doesn’t mean you have to be limited to this and not go beyond traditional marketing objectives. One great way of using social media to further your business is with customer service.
Many customers now take to social media when looking for customer service and it’s also great for businesses, too, as it is much easier and cheaper than spending hours on calls and emails. If you’re responding to feedback and service issues in a timely fashion on social, this will provide measurable and valuable returns.
Recent studies also show that customer retention increases when customers receive quick replies on social. So measure these areas, and not just how many Facebook subscribers signed up for your email list.
7. Don’t forget to test.
Testing is a huge part of marketing success and will help your business both learn from any mistakes and grow into a better company. This can range from the timings of your posts to split testing your ads to see what works.
Make sure the variable is limited to one element, like the headline, image, or call to action, but not all three at once. This way you can get a clearer understanding of what works.
