5 Mistakes You Might Be Making with Your Social Media Marketing Strategy
With today’s advanced technology, it’s nearly impossible to stay current with all of the trends and evolving expectations of those who seem to “live” on their phones. Here are some basic, timeless principles to avoid when developing your organization’s social media presence that will stand true no matter the current fads.
“Winging it.” Make sure to create a strategy and define your target audience. Set SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely) goals along the way, and take advantage of analytics to track your progress. There’s no point in investing time and effort in developing your social media presence if you fail to identify what is pushing you toward your goals and what is ineffective.
Spreading yourself too thin. Rather than signing up for LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, focus on just two or three key platforms you think would be the best for your current and prospective audiences. Build your presence on those accounts before moving on to others. Not all platforms are applicable for all business types. By focusing your efforts directly rather than dividing them amongst many platforms, you’ll be more successful in hitting your goals.
Overpromoting. While social media marketing obviously involves some self-advertising, make sure every post is not a sales pitch for your organization. People will follow your account to be entertained or informed, not to hear about how great your company is. When you choose to include promotional material, do so subtly, and intermix it with other content. You can do this by sharing a blog post in which you discuss a common issue in the industry and identify a creative solution in which your company plays a role.
Deleting the negative. “Trolls” are an unfortunate part of digital life. A troll can be anyone who chooses to post or comment negative things on your account or about your organization. While the instinctual response may be to delete these comments so that other users don’t see them and start thinking the same ideas, don’t!
Address the issue, and the writer, directly and as quickly as possible. By responding in a polite, considerate way, you are showing that person (and others who see the interaction) that you care about their concerns and are putting forth an active effort to fix the issue.
One of my favorite B2C companies, Lululemon, is well-known amongst my generation as one of the greatest retail companies for customer service. Tweets complaining about poor quality of their clothes don’t go ignored; in fact, they respond to them publicly, broadcasting the fact that they put forth the effort to personally connect with their consumers and fix their mistakes. By assuming responsibility and accountability, they make a trustworthy name for themselves and encourage their customers, like me, to continue going back for more.
Being inactive. In a world of instant gratification, no one likes to wait for an answer. Be quick in responding to comments and questions to create a more personal connection between your organization and your followers. Consistently engage users by providing content they want to see and updating your platforms. A dead account (meaning there is no recent activity viewable to the public) makes you seem outdated and is an instant turn-off to tech-savvy users who live on the Internet.
These are only the first, basic steps to creating and implementing a social media strategy for your organization. Sound overwhelming? Let us help you out! Contact us today to learn about our content generation and social media management capabilities to help build your network and establish fruitful relationships with your followers.
Article written by:
Alex Schweitzer
Marketing Intern
