If you are at all connected to internet these days you will know that we are living in an era of social media. People and businesses try to connect with each other via social media all the time. They share every single moment of their lives on social media. Businesses also use social media extensively to reach to their customers and market their products and services. While social media can be great for businesses it can also be a landmine of not done right. With that in mind here are 10 mistakes you should avoid when using social media for your business:
- Not knowing who to talk to
- Become a clueless chicken
- They speak Spanish, you speak English
- Not responding to others
- Rushing the pedal to accelerate
- Faking it all
- Too many platforms, too little to say
- Hashing it up
- Random investments
- Bend it like Beckham
People are often in such a hurry to start with their social media marketing that they forget the most important thing of all- the target audience. As much as everyone uses social media, people have different kind of alliances and preferences about how to go about it. So you would do yourself a favour if you have learnt identified your target audience first and analysed their usage pattern of social media. This would help you channel your marketing program well.
And obviously, if you have identified and analysed your target audience, then have plan in place about how to approach them. It is true that there are too many platforms in social media and almost all of them are accessed by everyone, but don’t rush in to all of them at5 a time. Start with high visibility and impact platforms and care to spread your wings slowly but effectively.
It is also important to understand the language your audience speaks, well beyond the literal meaning of it. Every target audience has a certain way of interacting with others as well as within themselves. If you have not understood it, your words are going to sound like a foreign language to them.
And don’t forget to make your social media rendezvous interactive. Imagine if someone called you up and kept speaking without listening to you- would you be interested in what was said? The same would apply to social media.
Avoid the mistake of rushing in to all platforms with all pieces of information. Build up the momentum with a steady pace; let the interest in your work grow in a gradual but secure way.
While many would advise in favour of fake followers and likes, do your best to avoid such a scenario. While it may look good, social media platform providers are always on a hunt to bring it down. And the only one to lose out in the deal would be you.
Do not be miserly with your content; if you want to be on multiple platforms then make it a point to produce relevant content. Same content over multiple sites would be irrelevant and would draw more flak than admiration.
Use the hashtag wisely; else, once again, the evil of irrelevance will catch up with you- the damage might be irrevocable.
Out there, there is no dearth of tricks in the trade of social media. While it might be tempting to opt for optimization techniques, be careful about it- choose what you need and not what people tell you that you need. This ensures fruitful investments take place.
Be flexible- once in a while, religiously, take an account of how well the social marketing plan is doing to achieve goals. And be open minded about what is working and what is not. Accordingly, make modifications/adjustments in your marketing plan and execution.
Thomson is an avid MOZ and Mashable reader, he helps with website redesign ideas and Tips for writing a Website Design Proposal through his blog.
