If you are looking to minimize the number of social media mistakes you and your business could make then here are 10 of the most common social networking blunders with their potential solutions:
1) Putting the Same Messages on Every Social Media Platform: Some businesses still put the same messages they have about their brand on every platform. However, every social media network is different. For instance, if your message was longer than 140 characters it wouldn’t be able to fit on Twitter. Therefore, it is worth your time to study and understand the nuances between each platform then adjust your message to suit and fit each social network accordingly.
2) Prioritizing Quantity: If you have a couple hundred followers who intend on being customers are much more significant than if you have thousands of followers who show little interest in having anything to do with your business. Therefore, instead of trying to play to a wide audience, limit your focus on targeting your demographic.
3) Posting in the Heat of the Moment: One major social media mistake is composing and posting a message when you are overcome by severe emotion and aren’t thinking clearly. If one of your employees is angry or frustrated and is in charge of handling your social media be sure they are calm and collected before dealing with others and sending posts out.
4) Writing a Sub-par Bio: Your bio is the introduction to your business. It is your ‘handshake.’ Therefore, if people see that you have a weak bio they are less likely to follow you. Put the time in and think of a strong bio that captures the user’s attention and excites their curiosity to find out more about your business.
5) Irregular Posting Schedule and Frequency: You never want to post too much or too little. You also don’t want to post at odd hours where no one will be able to see your posts. Finding a balance between the two is important if you intend on leading a successful social media marketing campaign. Find the peak hours when most of your followers are online and post your content then.
6) Never Proofreading: Even though social media tends to have a nonchalant atmosphere, you don’t want your tweets or posts to be riddled with grammar, punctuation, and spelling mistakes. It reflects poorly on your business and could cost you a few customers who reason that if your business can’t seem to focus on a simple detail like spelling a word correctly, how could your products and/or services be any different? Therefore, always be sure to proofread and fix mistakes before posting.
7) Using too much Automation: Automated tools are quite useful for your business. Yet, if relied on too much it can cause your social media profiles to appear spammy. To avoid this, just be sure that your automations don’t get in the way of your authentic posts.
8) Not Engaging: You can be publishing terrific content, but if you’re not engaging your audience then it will be as if that fine piece of content never existed. The next time you post content try to get a conversation going between readers. The more you lead and engage in conversation the more people will feel part of your business and will give others the incentive to join in.
9) Not Keeping Things Clear and Concise: If you need to say something lengthy it is better to put it in a blog post. Research shows that people on social media networks respond and engage positively with shorter, straight to the point, messages, than with long, verbose ones.
10) Misusing Different Features: No matter if it is an image, video, hashtag, etc. it is critical that you know the effect of different features that social media networks have. If you don’t put in the time to familiarize yourself with these features and what purpose they serve then you are putting yourself and your business at a great disadvantage.
The good thing about mistakes is that they can be amended. Look out for errors when you’re on social media. The less mistakes you make the greater your users’ experience will be.
