Social media is such a big part of our society that it’s no wonder brands and small businesses take advantage of it to grow their sales. However, many companies are not getting the benefits they should out of it. Sure, by being active on social media you might earn some followers and they might buy your product or service. However, you need to use social media in a more efficient and effective way to bring motivated potential customers to your website and to consume your content. Here are some things that you are probably doing wrong with your social media marketing.
Disregarding it Altogether
Social media is more than just posting sales and purchasing information. Many businesses disregard it completely and instead use their social media just for information, or they think that their audience isn’t responsive to social media. The fact is, millions of older adults are on Facebook and Twitter, and more are signing on every day. If you are not reaching out to them with your marketing strategies, then you will fall behind your competitors who are. You might have a deep understanding of things like Google’s RankBrain and SEO marketing, but without social media marketing the overall picture is incomplete and you will lose opportunities.
No Originality
There are times when you will retweet or share someone else’s posts. That’s fine, although too many brands, especially smaller ones, get too used to doing that. It might be good content, but it doesn’t reflect your brand. It’s important to create your own original content so that you can create engagement with your business. Take your own photos so that users can see what goes on behind the scenes, and so that you can convey exactly what you want to convey. Originality and personality are crucial ways to showcase your brand’s personality and get potential customers to relate to you.
Not Having a Plan
The fact is, you are only wasting your time if you do not have a plan for how social media can work for you. Posting every once in a while without trying to gain more followers is not a plan. You need to treat it like any other marketing strategy. Have an idea of how much you want to post, what times of day, and what types of content. Make sure to use all of the metrics and data at your disposal to make sound decisions and get the type of engagement you need to bring in new customers. Set benchmarks, measure your results, and decide what kinds of resources you will allocate to your social media accounts.
Being Too Rigid
That said, you should always be prepared to pivot if any aspect of your plan is not working, or something happens to warrant changing your approach. Your social media should reflect what’s going on in the world and take part in the national conversation. Whether it’s a pandemic or a big sporting event, don’t be afraid to have your social media accounts comment on something, or to produce content that touches on them. That way, your brand will seem to have its finger on the pulse, and will show customers that you are connected to what is important for them. Sticking with your strategy at all times may be counterproductive, especially when something big is happening in the world that affects a lot of your customers.
Not Tailoring Your Content For Each Platform
Too many brands create social media content, and then put it on each of their channels in almost exactly the same form. However, your content should be optimized for each channel, since they are all used for different purposes. LinkedIn, for example, is more professional and your content should reflect that. LinkedIn users are generally more willing to consume longer posts, and will be interested in the business side of things. Twitter is conversational, while Instagram is more casual. Make sure that your content is appropriate for each platform by creating several forms of it to post on each one. You should also make sure that you have several image sizes, since each platform also has different guidelines for them.
Not Engaging With Your Followers
Never forget that it is called “social” media. You need to be social for it to work. Posting things and then never checking up on your accounts until you post again is not effective. Make sure that if your audience is engaging with your posts that you are engaging with your audience. Like their comments, respond to them, and make them feel like they are truly interacting with your brand. This will not only make your social media accounts more interesting, but it will also help to build brand loyalty.
You can find a lot of success and gain new customers if you do your social media marketing right. Make sure to avoid these mistakes and you will find that your social media efforts will start paying off like never before.
