In our digital world, social media has become more prevalent than ever. Billions of people now use social media platforms worldwide, which means businesses have ample opportunities to connect with customers through these popular networking sites.
In other words, your business needs to embrace social media marketing to reach your audience more effectively. But if you make any of the following mistakes, you’ll have a tougher time building your brand presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, and more. Here are just a few of the missteps you’ll want to avoid.
Posting Without a Strategy
Some business owners assume that simply having an account and publishing a post every so often will fulfill all the necessary requirements. In 2021, these expectations barely count as the bare minimum. If you aren’t active on these platforms, you need to change that right away. However, that doesn’t mean you should post without a game plan.
Posting for the sake of posting typically won’t work in your favor. It makes it too easy for digital marketing to sit on the back burner. With hosting platforms, you’ll gain the ability to reach new audiences all the time. But if you don’t have a strategy, you won’t have much to guide you.
Developing a social media marketing strategy can allow you to identify your goals, establish a posting schedule, designate responsibilities to various team members, and track your progress effectively.
With a strategy, you can ensure consistency and efficacy when marketing via social media. Without one, your posts will be irregular or even irrelevant to your audience.
Publishing Offensive or Insensitive Content
This should be a no-brainer, but many brands don’t realize they’ve posted something considered offensive or insensitive until it’s too late.
A recent survey on social media conduct revealed that 66.8% of individuals never or rarely make posts on social media that could be categorized as divisive. Brands tend to be even more careful where this is concerned, as it’s important not to alienate potential customers.
But at a time when social justice, political, and health-related issues are at the forefront of everyone’s minds, customers do expect brands to make certain views known. In many cases, consumers want to know that the brands they support are committed to improving lives through sustainability measures, racial equity, and other issues they care about.
That can make it tough for brands to know where the line is. Whether or not you choose to speak publicly about where your brand stands, you should never post anything that could be considered offensive or inappropriate. Hurtful comments, discriminatory language, or an inability to lead with empathy can all spell disaster for your social media marketing.
To avoid the need for a crisis public relations expert, it’s best to establish a social media policy or handbook, limit access to business brands’ social media accounts, and make sure all posts are given explicit approval prior to publication. Your approval process should involve consulting with team members who are from different backgrounds to avoid potential biases.
The truth is that no brand gets it right 100% of the time. But you can prevent a substantial miscalculation by having these safeguards in place.
Failing to Connect With Your Audience
Social media provides all sorts of opportunities to build relationships with fans of your brand. But customers won’t follow you blindly; you need to give them a reason to feel loyal to your brand and interact with you online.
One of the first things you need to do is ensure every post provides value. If you’re not sure why you’re posting, your audience won’t know either. Remember that not every post should be promotional! Strive to provide your audience with solutions to their problems or even to entertain them in some way. You can also encourage them to interact with your posts by asking discussion questions or getting a little more personal about your brand.
You’ll also want to take every opportunity to make a meaningful connection by responding to comments and messages. Replying with an emoji or liking the DM doesn’t count. Thank them for reaching out or for following along, answering their questions, and building a rapport with them.
These tasks can be time-consuming, which is why many brands turn to automated tools. It’s worth noting that automation can be useful for much of your digital marketing, but it should be used sparingly. Automating your social media comments and messages can be off-putting to many customers, as it’s usually pretty obvious when they aren’t interacting with an actual human being.
For more menial tasks, it’s fine to automate. But when you really need to build relationships, there’s no replacement for genuine interaction.
Social Media Marketing is a Must – But Major Mistakes Aren’t
Marketing your business via social media is now essential. If you want the best chance of promoting your brand online, you’ll want to avoid making the aforementioned mistakes whenever you post. If you can manage that, you’ll be well on your way to creating an engaged audience of supporters.