By Eileen O’Shanassy
It’s no secret that social media has become one of the main sources of communication between friends and family, but also, between businesses and their audience online. A brand without a strong social media presence is hindering its own success, which is why social media marketing has become a crucial tool for businesses today. Although social media marketing has the potential to grow your business fast, there are many common mistakes that must be avoided to ensure success. Here are the five of the most common social media marketing mistakes. Hopefully your business can avoid them and experience more online success!
Entering Every Platform
Contrary to common belief, successful social media marketing is not about being on every single social media platform. Each channel has its own purpose, tools, and demographics, and when you’re on every single one, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Instead of working with every platform, identify the ones that work best for your brand and customers and focus on those.
No Consistency
Accounts that don’t post regularly or don’t interact with their visitors through comments and responses are seen as inconsistent, which is a mistake many marketers make. Not only does it make your brand seem unreliable, but it also prevents it from gaining loyal followers that keep coming back. Be sure you keep up with your accounts and regularly check back with answers to questions or responses to reviews. Another aspect of consistency is how it matches your site design, branding, and logo designs. Be consistent as well as recognizable across your platforms.
No Personality
Your brand has a personality, a style, and a voice, and they should all be portrayed through your social media platforms. A great way to do this is to make sure your posts are both unique and relevant to your brand, and personalized for each platform. Always using the same post, with the same wording, across your different platforms, is a common way to cause your followers to lose interest. Be interesting, and dedicated to your personality and presence. Be sure it matches with what your products or services you provide.
No Engagement
Social media marketing is as much about engagement as it is about the posts. Pages that have posts, but no interaction with their followers don’t get very far. Your level of engagement with your followers determines the kind of relationship you have with them. No engagement means no relationship, which hinders your social media marketing.
No Strategy
Strategy is the key to successful social media marketing, not having one is a common mistake. A strategy helps you identify your brand, its purpose, and its voice, and gives you a direction for the content. It also involves analyzing each social media account, identifying what’s working and what isn’t, and making the necessary changes to achieve the desired results.
Social media marketing is an effective way to quickly reach and build a relationship with a large target audience. It truly has the potential to make a brand stand out from its competition and make it successful – as long as it’s done right.
Eileen O’Shanassy is a freelance writer and blogger based out of Flagstaff, AZ. She writes on a variety of topics and loves to research and write. She enjoys baking, biking, and kayaking. Check out her Twitter @eileenoshanassy.
