Social media is an amazing tool for interacting with your client base. It's simple, instant, and easily accessed. Like any form of communication though, it should be used carefully. Here are the top ten most common mistakes businesses make on social media, and how you can avoid them.
Over-posting
When you first start out, you may want to post several times a week, or even several times a day. After all, if you want to catch your audience's attention, you need to be making yourself visible, right?
In fact, it can have the opposite effect. If your audience sees constant posts from you, they'll soon get tired of seeing you in their feed. If they get fed up of seeing you, there's nothing stopping them from unfollowing you and losing you any future business.
Instead, write one or two good quality posts a week. You'll get more attention with good quality, interesting and informative posts.
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Not posting quality content
Speaking of quality content, many companies don't think long enough about the content they are posting online. Not any old content is going to make the cut when it comes to social media. If you're not sure about what to post why not consider hiring a professional? They can help you see what needs to go into your posts.
Upwork, Contently, and Freelancer are all business sites that offer expert freelancers who can create your content. Post up the job, and writers will bid to work with you. UK Top Writers helps you find expert writers by reading reviews of their services. Elite Assignment Help will give you a quote before you even order, making it easier to budget for writing services.
Not interacting with followers
Many people use social media as their first port of call when it comes to interacting with you. Businesses that don't respond to these communications are making a crucial error. It can make you look as though you're ignoring what they have to say, and be a real knock to your brand.
Take the time to interact with followers on social media. Take on board what they have to say. If they have complaints, use this as an opportunity to put things right. Customers will appreciate that you take the time to address them online.
Ignoring content marketing tools
Nowadays, there's plenty of content marketing tools available for you to use, whenever you want them. Many businesses don't bother to use them though, as they don't think they need to be paying their content that much attention. In fact, they should be using them as social media is just as important as any other outlet online.
To make sure you're getting the most out of what you post, try using content marketing tools yourself. If you don't know where to start, try using Hemingway Editor to proofread your posts, Easy Word Count to ensure they're of the right length, and CoSchedule to analyze the headlines you're using. These will all ensure that you're posting the best quality content, every time.
Recycling posts
Finding new content to post about every few days can be difficult. That's why some businesses decide to recycle content on their social media pages. It makes sense in theory, as some readers won't have seen it before and so you want them to find your content.
However, there's new content being posted online every day. if a reader sees content they've seen before, they're not going to stick around and read it. You need to ensure everything you're posting is fresh and new.
Inconsistent branding
If you're savvy, you'll be using different social media sites as platforms to market on. Many businesses, though, make a mistake by not unifying the message each account is putting out there.
You need to show that all of these accounts are indeed connected. Start by using the branding you're using everywhere else online, especially your own website. As well as this, ensure that you're sharing the same kind of content across all sites. This may mean that you have to change formats to make it work, but ensure that you do so.
No strategy
You've heard that you have to be on social media, but now that you're on there you don't really know what to do with it. This is something that happens to many companies, and it can kill your presence stone dead. You need to have a strategy in place so you know what you're trying to achieve.
Think about what you want from social media. Is it more sales, or more exposure to the public? Get a strategy in place, and stick to it.
Not crediting creators
Sometimes, you'll want to use content that's not yours. If it's relevant to what your followers are interested in, then it's perfectly fine to post it. However, there are businesses out there who don't pay attention to where those posts come from.
If you're posting from other creators, make sure that they're credited in the post. If you share directly from their page or account, this is usually the easiest way to do so.
Misusing hashtags
Hashtags are a great way of getting word of your content out there. They're especially useful if there's a trending topic going around that's relevant to you and your business. However, it's very easy to misuse hashtags. Ever seen a post that's more hashtags than actual content, or hashtagging topics that have no relevance to the post? They can damage your brand. Instead, use them sparingly.
Not using images
The text is only part of the picture on social media. To really grab the reader's attention, you need to be using images too. Good quality, clear and relevant images are the key to success here. However, many businesses just aren't using them.
Use images to illustrate your point when you post on social media. It'll help readers see what you're trying to stay, and give them a reason to stop scrolling. You can use video too, for exactly the same reason.
These ten mistakes are some of the most common on social media, but they can be avoided with some time and effort. Try using these strategies yourself, and you'll see that follower count rise.
P.S. Don't forget to check out our social media website templates.
Are you a social media fan? How many profiles do you have? As for me, I am signed up to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram, of course. I enjoy sharing content and reading/viewing what others post. And what about you? What are your favorite activities on social networks? Are you mostly for fun or for business there?
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