Social media plays a major role in marketing because it is where masses of people are congregating online, and that is not likely to change any time soon. The first step to making social media marketing successful for your business is making yourself aware of common mistakes so you can avoid them.
HERE ARE 5 COMMON MISTAKES BUSINESSES MAKE WHEN IT COMES TO SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING:
1. NOT CREATING REAL-WORLD SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING STRATEGIES
If you are trying to market your business on social media without a strategy or plan of some kind, you’re probably wasting your time and money. Creating a real-world social media marketing strategy really should be your first step in the process. In order to do this, you must ask yourself a few important questions:
What is your ultimate goal in using social media for marketing purposes? Are you trying to get more likes and followers? Are you trying to create a new source of sales leads? Do you want to reinforce your brand’s authority in the industry?Think of it this way – if you are unsure of or don’t know what your goal is, how can you possibly achieve it? Not only do you need to identify your marketing goals, but you also need to know what your target audience it, what tactics you will use (blogs, emails, videos, images, etc.), how much time and money you are willing to invest, and whether or not you need a dedicated marketing team. Doing this important exercise will help you more clearly define your path and what steps to take.
2. DISMISSING ALL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS AS ONE AND THE SAME
There is a plethora of social media platforms, and each has its own language, audience, and type of content. Instagram, for example, is a haven for younger people in their 20s, while Twitter on the other hand, is a great platform for B2B networking and idea sharing. In order for your marketing strategy to work effectively, it’s important to learn about these differences and act accordingly. Just because someone mentions Instagram is popular, doesn’t mean it is an advantageous platform for your business goals.In our experience, most businesses can achieve the results they’re seeking by simply focusing on between one to three of these main fronts – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Keeping things simple in this way is the key to getting a good return on investment from your social media marketing because it allows you to give the attention required to keep your followers engaged.
3. SELLING INSTEAD OF BEING SOCIAL
Remember to interact with others, not just push your content out to cyberspace.Focusing all of your posting on your company’s sales pitch will cause you to lose followers and likes on social media because most people don’t like to see promotions and advertisements in their news feed. One thing that businesses can forget about when marketing on social media, is that social media platforms are just that – a platform for people to communicate and be social! Share articles, follow people and companies, and then ‘like’ and comment on their posts so you can participate in the social aspect. This is the online version of networking, so incorporate some give and take. You can accumulate new page views and followers by spending a few minutes ‘liking’ other people’s posts.We believe in producing high-quality content rather than focusing on quantity. When we say high quality content, we mean content that will be interesting or informative to your target audience. You have to make your content about them, and their interests, and their needs. We know that your business needs to sell, and it’s ok to promote your business or services in a subtle way. But remember, the more engaging your content is to your audience, the more sales you will inevitably get from them.
4. NOT ANALYZING HOW YOUR POSTS ARE PERFORMING
The importance of analyzing the performance of your website’s SEO or email marketing campaigns seems like a no brainer, so why don’t business do it for their social media marketing? There’s something to be said for knowing exactly which posts are gaining you followers and which are falling flat.Start by monitoring the following insights:
How are your followers reacting to your posts? Are there any sudden increases or decreases in follower engagements? Do your boosted/promoted posts perform better on one platform vs. another?Analytics help you to clearly identify your social marketing performance to help shape your future content strategy.
5. DRAGGING YOUR FEET
Many businesses say they have been wanting to utilize social media but just haven’t started. Or they created a page and haven’t posted any content. If you are looking for an easy way to communicate with your target audience, then you are missing an opportunity by not being on social media. Create an outline of who you want to reach and focus on how you could engage these people online.Related:
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