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Social media is not an exact science. Posting to Facebook should be easy, right? Tweeting
is not brain surgery, so anyone can do it, right? No one debates the user friendliness
of social media sites (well almost no one) but very few people fully understand how to
use social media effectively for business pages and marketing. After scouring the web,
here are a few tips to avoid the most common mistakes in social media:
Using the wrong metrics: Most people feel that the number of likes your page has on
Facebook is the final indicator in how well your page is doing, but this couldn't be further
from the truth. Facebook has recently updated their page Insights to make tracking your
metrics easy and more user friendly, but you'll notice that more emphasis is placed on engagement
than simple page likes. Other services also offer social media metrics and analytics,
such a Youtube and Sprout Social. Use these to monitor your brand more closely.
Too many channels/pages: Years ago when social media started booming, companies jumped at
the opportunity to have a social presence online. Many companies ended up with multiple
(sometimes even hundreds) branded handles and pages. The rush also pushed brands to
stretch themselves thin by trying to have a place on every social media outlet. Avoid
this by consolidating your pages/profiles into a unified front and just pick the outlets
that will be most effective for your brand. All About You: No one likes to listen to a
person talk only about themselves all the time. The same is true for your businesses'
social media profiles. Obviously you want to sell your products and services to an audience
that is interested, but the focus should be on what you can offer that's of value. Listen
and respond. Your content should center around knowing what your target audience wants and
providing them with interesting information. Feature your fans and give shout outs to those
who use your products and you will notice an increase in engagement as well as loyalty
for you taking notice. Social Media in One Department: Marketers
market, customer service helps clients and human resources recruits, right? Wrong! All
of these departments have something to contribute to your social media pages, so limiting social
media to one department leaves out valuable resources and information. This is also true
of outsourcing your social media management to a third party. Make sure everyone is on
the same page with the direction and tone of your social media presence.
No Direction: So now that you have your whole company on board to contribute to social media,
what now? You have to establish a clear path for your social media profiles and individual
purposes for all. Set up a group calender with a posting schedule and determine customer
response protocols so you don't have duplicate posts or things flying under the radar. Make
sure that your pages don't have dead air time. Meet often and keep the lines of communication
open and active, because above all social media is just that.
Hopefully now that you have a better understanding of what not to do with social media, you will
experience better results with your marketing strategy. Good luck!