Social media is an extremely beneficial marketing tool for businesses. If done correctly, social media alone can have a heavy impact on a company’s bottom line. Brands’ social media profiles can also have a negative effect on a company if they are not appropriately managed. Because many times a social media profile is the first impression a potential customer has with the brand, it’s critical that the profiles are kept current with suitable content for the brand’s specific audience. Social media has a huge impact on a brand’s relationship with its customers, so it is crucial that businesses are not making the following costly mistakes.
Over Posting
Many companies fall into the habit of posting for the sake of posting, or posting far too frequently without really saying much of anything. Instead of sharing what the company wants to tell, the company should be asking themselves, “What do our customers want to know?” Brands need to make sure they are serving their followers high quality content truly serves a purpose, by educating, inspiring or entertaining.
Under Posting
Social media sites are companies’ opportunities to have dialog with their everyday customers. Far too many businesses fail to take advantage of this free communication tool. A person interested in a company should be able to get the answers to his/her questions from the company’s social media pages. Whether it’s including a business’s hours in the ‘About’ section, having a link to the company website or answering FAQs in posts, a company’s audience should always be able to find updated, recent and relevant information on its social sites. There is no magic number on how often a business should post. It varies for brands and industries, but make sure you’re tracking your post topics and frequency to see what performs best for you.
Not Spending Money
As we mentioned, having a social media profile is free, but you can’t think of it as completely free marketing. Like anything else, the more you put in, the more you will get out. There are many ways brands can pay for more exposure on social media. While the most viral of posts can happen organically, to truly increase social reach (for the most important posts), there should be money in a marketing budget for sponsorship.
Too Many Channels
Many people think they need to have a presence on all social media channels, but that’s not always the case. If there is no time or resources are scarce to dedicate to multiple social media outlets, being effective isn’t really a possibility. Stick to a few main outlets, and post valuable, well-prepared content. This will take companies much farther than posting sparsely on multiple channels. For more information, check out how to choose the right social media channels for your business.
Misspelled Words, Exclamations, & Capital Letters
Although social media sites are where brands should be interacting in almost-real time with their customers, the communication needs to be kept professional. Too many companies lose credibility by posting with misspelled words, everything in all capital letters, or overuse of exclamation points and emojis. Just like any other communication to your customers, write properly and always check spelling and punctuation. Everyone makes mistakes; if you notice an error, update it as soon as you can. Most social media platforms allow for editing after a post is published.
Is your business making one of these mistakes? The Storyteller Agency has helped clients around the country optimize their social channels and increase following. We can help you come up with the best strategy to tell your story through your social media channels. Contact us today to get started.
