Social media marketing can be one of the most important points of call when dealing with customers and trying to attract new business. But, do you know how exactly to go about marketing your business or products online?
In this article, we will go through the 7 easy-to-make mistakes you can easily fall for when using social media marketing. Make sure you are properly prepared and have the correct tools and strategies to ensure your business is a success online!
Don’t make mistakes with marketing that end up costing you valuable customers and time. Read on to find out more.
1. Avoiding Negative Feedback
If you are controlling several social media channels, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter you will probably have an uncomfortable scenario where somebody criticizes your product or service and leaves a bad review.
The first thing you might think to do is ignore the comment or even delete it entirely. This is not the correct response. Your customers need to feel their views and concerns are being listened to.
The last thing you want is people discussing your poor or non-responsive customer service skills. Use this bad review or feedback to start a dialogue with the customer. Ask what you can do to help and request a private DM to sort it out for them.
Other potential customers will see you trying to rectify or make amends and this will build confidence in your brand. The worst thing you can do is do nothing!
2. Not Connecting with Your Followers
Yes, you are ultimately a business, but it doesn’t mean your social media needs to reflect that side of it. Use it as an opportunity to introduce your followers to your staff and you and what they like.
Show a human aspect to you and your business, perhaps do a question and answer session and allow your followers to get to know your interests and hobbies.
Use opportunities to get to know your followers also. Wish them a happy birthday, celebrate little milestones with them, and interact with them through your social media channels.
3. Not Making Sure You Have Multiple Channels
If you are a small to medium-sized business, for example if you are a hardware store with Webers on sale, don’t put all your faith in one social media platform.
Social media is constantly evolving and changing. You need to make sure you are current and ahead of the curve. Actively seek out the trends and new ways of communicating and make sure you are keeping up.
By spreading your business across many platforms, you’ll increase your audience and potential to direct traffic to your business. Never put all your eggs in one social media basket!
4. Not Keeping Track of Your Statistics
How are you meant to know whether your social media is successful if you don’t keep track of your stats? Regularly check and make note of your engagements and how your social media channels affect your sales and business.
If you did a post which did particularly well which generates sales, look into how you replicate that. The same with posts that weren’t as well received. You know to not go in that direction for future posts.
By keeping a tab on these trends and your numbers you can get an overall impression of your social media performance. You can see where you are most successful and where you need to pick up the slack.
5. Not Proofreading or Checking your Content
There is nothing more embarrassing than when you have sent out a long post or status that has spelling or grammatical issues in it. This can reflect badly on your business as it makes you look unprofessional or careless.
If spelling or grammar isn’t your thing, there are plenty of free applications you can install on your devices to check over your posts before you send them.
It might only take an extra couple of minutes but it is well worth your time and effort to make sure all your posts are professional looking and error-free.
Get another person to look over your content and offer suggestions. Running it past someone who can view it from the customer’s point of view is useful and handy.
6. Not Engaging With Holidays or the Time of Year
All successful social media marketing engages with particular holidays or periods in the year. It allows followers to engage with you on a different level and ties in nicely with the warm feelings that are associated with that holiday.
Create personalized Christmas posts and get people excited in the run-up to it by offering specialized content each day. This can be done with most occasions such as Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving, and Valentine’s Day.
Remember to interact with the world around you with your social media marketing. Respond to current events and keep yourself connected to special moments in the year.
7. Don’t Post the Same Thing on All Your Channels
Some channels are more suited to a simple picture and a brief description. Others will be more word based with a link attached. Don’t make the mistake of posting the same thing on all your social media channels.
Diversify your content and tailor it to the specific channel you are posting it on. Customers will also notice if you are simply posting the same content, which can look a bit one-dimensional and lazy.
Mistakes With Marketing: Where Can I Find Out More?
We hope you’ve enjoyed this post on common mistakes with marketing and how to avoid them.
If you want to find out more about this or other posts on similar topics, why not check out our previous blog posts? We have plenty of handy guides and tips to help!
