5 Mistakes to Avoid When Using Social Media
Hello,
Hope you are enjoying the summer and getting to grips with your marketing efforts!
We wanted to take 5 minutes and share our 5 mistakes to avoid when using social media. We are passionate about helping businesses of all sizes to supercharge their marketing efforts without breaking the budget. With this in mind, there is an abundance of articles on how to be successful but not many articles look at actually what you need to be mindful of to avoid making mistakes.
So here goes…
Mistake 1 – Partially Filled Profiles
There is nothing worse than following a social media page but not being able to find out more about the business because the account has been set up with limited information. Just like a printed advert, remember to make sure you have all of your business information easy to find.
Make sure that whatever social media platform you are on, you have a full, detailed profile/bio that covers:
- What you do,
- How you can help,
- Contact details
- Website link
Also, make sure that you check the details regularly and update where necessary.
Mistake 2 – No Strategy
You have taken the time to set up profiles on social media – so what now? We have spoken to a number of businesses recently and asked – “what function do you want social media to do as part of your marketing strategy” – so many businesses have really struggled to answer. You need to be clear about what you want to use social media for. Is it to:
- Raise profile of the business,
- Increase website traffic,
- Generate enquiries,
- Share business news,
- Provide a customer services function.
If you don’t know what social media is going to help you with, how can you know if it is a success or not? Also by being clear on the goal, you can create engaging content to meet those needs.
Read More: Social Media Management
Mistake 3 – Lack of Consistency
Are you updating your social media accounts frequently enough? Nothing shines a bad light on the business like a social media account that is not updated regularly. How regularly is up to you but you need to be consistent!
We are often asked how often should you post on social media and there are varying responses online suggesting 2-3 times per day for Facebook, 5 times a day for Twitter etc. I always start by asking about what content a business has as to how often to post. It is much better to put out quality posts instead of posting 5 times because that is what you have been told to do.
Remember if you have gone to the trouble of setting up the accounts – make sure you use them.
Mistake 4 – Lack of Images / Video Content
A number of businesses we have spoken to recently say the biggest bugbear they have with social media is a lack of images. It is certainly true that posts with images are more likely to receive engagement than posts without, so what can you do about it?
Well, for a start there are a number of image creation websites out there that don’t require any graphic design skills. Our favourite is Canva because it comes with a number of free templates already sized to suit social media platforms and can be easily be adapted to suit your branding.
Alternatively, remember that people still buy from people so how about sharing behind the scenes images of your business and staff? Other image ideas could be location shots, motivational quotes, photos used on your website & so much more. You can create a wealth of images – your only limitation is time!
You need to also considered Video Content – people engage more with video content as it catches their eye when scrolling on social media. Do you have a plan in place to create video posts?
Mistake 5 – Not Engaging
If you are honest with yourself, how much time do you actually spend on social media engaging with others? We are not talking about posting your own content, we are talking about liking, commenting and sharing other posts.
The whole idea of social media is to be SOCIAL – make sure you make time to engage with others as it will help your account get seen by a wider audience and other people are more likely to engage with you. Ideally, you want to create an online community and as the saying goes – it takes two to tango! Go on, join in a conversation today and see how far you can go.
If you can avoid making any of the mistakes above then you are on your way to social media success. We can easily pinpoint another 5 mistakes to avoid but would like you to take the time to get the foundations right first.
We would also love to hear your tips on what mistakes to avoid with social media – please send your comments to claire@creationzmarketing.co.uk
Claire
p.s Looking for an audit of your social media activity, contact us today for FREE no-nonesense advice – Contact Us
P.P.S – Join our FREE Facebook Group – Marketing for Success Club – Free advice & tips to enhance your marketing working
Further Reading:
Are you a Marketing Magpie?
Are Testimonials Important
Do I Need a Marketing Plan