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You’ve started a social media account, you tweet and Facebook and YouTube, but if you’re not familiar with the platforms, you could be making crucial errors in your social media management.
Below are five things you could be doing on social media that are hurting your business, and how you can make them right…
Tweeting about yourself (Overly!)
When you’re a business, social media is much more about listening than talking. Fans and followers expect conversations and engagement with the brands they like and hate being inundated with self-promotional content.
Social media is a two way conversation, so get out there and talk to your fans and followers like a human being. Respond to their messages or comments, answer their questions and be friendly. Use photos and video to add depth and richness to your posts. Ask questions and solicit feedback. Add value to your content, such as educational posts and industry news articles.
Retweet or share content from your fans and followers to build engagement and create a sense of community. Post the occasional funny image or video, even if it’s not completely related to your industry.
Posting Inconsistently
Your accounts should have regular, consistent content. A page or feed that has a flurry of posts one week and nothing for several days will not generate a positive brand awareness.
Make sure your social media accounts consistent and real. Create an editorial calendar or a list of sources for great content, including events, news, photos, testimonials and post at regular intervals.
Use analytics from Facebook or Hootsuite (a social media management tool) to determine the best times to post, and stick with them. Typically, most brands post once or twice a day. More than that is not recommended unless your analytics prove otherwise.
Working Without a Plan
Social media may be the hip, trendy thing to do, but if you don’t’ have a plan in place for your social media campaign; you might as well spend your time elsewhere. Like any advertising and marketing, social media requires goals and action items. Every tweet or post should have an ultimate goal, whether it’s strengthening your brand awareness, increasing your fan base or bringing in more money.
Use analytics and goal setting to quantify your return on investment. Drive traffic from social media to your website, blog or online store so you can convert visitors to paying customers. Track how many shares, comments or replies your messages attract, and if they aren’t working, adapt and change until you find a recipe that works to reach your social media goals.
Not Establishing Your Voice
You might have already worked on establishing your voice and character for your brand, and it should continue into social media messages. One of the most jarring things you can do with your social media accounts is to have an inconsistent image, which can lead to loss of trust in your brand.
If you have several social media managers or monitors, make sure each works against a set of guidelines for tone, content and frequency. Your voice and vision should be the same for every platform, every day.
Ignoring Your Messages
Customers often use social media to communicate complaints about a product or service directly to the company in question. An ignored comment can quickly escalate to devastating consequences for a brand. Monitor often, even on weekends and evenings (or other non-business hours), and answer customers questions and concerns as soon as you can. Don’t delete or hide messages – negative messages handled the correct way can actually be a boon for brands.
About the author: Tom is a respected, award-winning freelance journalist who prides himself on covering the best topics within the business realm. When he isn’t reviewing small business budget templates, he spends his time building his handmade sailboat that he hopes to sail sometime soon.
Passionate about the world wide web since 1995, Amine has been working as a Web Developer, SEO & Social Media Marketing Specialist for several Organizations in the United States, Canada and China.
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