Every small business owner wants to attract more customers to their business, and if they aren’t using social media to do so, they are making a big mistake. Over 2.5 billion people are actively using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms. This number is also expected to keep rising daily. With such a large crowd of people online, businesses should be focusing their marketing campaigns on social media in order to reach top prospects. But be careful, one little mistake on social media can make potential customers choose the competition over your business.
So, before venturing online to market your brand, it is essential to take a close look at these five social media mistakes and how you can avoid them.
1. Failing to have a social media marketing plan
Social media makes it is easy to advertise your brand. This, however, does not mean you should bypass creating a social media marketing strategy. A one-time attractive post is not enough to keep your followers glued to your page. It is important to plan for the goals you need to accomplish with your social media account. You should carefully select your target audience, tactics and who on your team will actually be implementing the plans. Poor planning strategies can lead to loss of a huge amount of time online that could be directed to other impactful things.
2. Being impersonal
The people who ask questions about your business want real answers. They want to feel like you care about their worries and fully understand their concerns through your responses. Nobody wants uniform and unspecific answers. As a small business owner, create time to respond to these customers personally and with compassion.
3. Not engaging with your audience
No matter which social media platform you’re using, it’s important to engage with your audience and followers. Whether it’s replying to comments about your product or liking and retweeting tweets, it’s always a good idea to show you care. By starting a conversation with your followers, you will boost overall engagement on your social media channels and keep your brand top of mind for customers
4. Assuming all social media platforms are the same
All social media platforms work differently. The way you post something on Facebook is not the same way you do on Twitter. Messages on different social platforms also need some specific touches to appeal to the followers. Therefore, forwarding messages randomly about your brand from one platform to the other may not give the impression you desire. For example, if you use hashtags all over a Facebook post, your followers may get annoyed and even start to unfollow you, which can adversely affect the growth of your business. (If you’re confused, hashtags are best used on Twitter and Instagram!) Having a different social media strategy for each network will benefit you and your business in the long run.
5. Ignoring the results
When it comes to social media marketing, not everything will go perfectly as planned. Thankfully, most social media platforms offer a complimentary metrics and reporting system for you to utilize and track your data. It is important to consider what your results are telling you. Analyze the data to decide what is and isn’t working, and don’t be afraid to test new techniques and strategies to improve your results.
Put in the work and generate new customers!
Tackling social media presence for a small business can be a lot of work. It takes time and dedication, but will benefit your company in the long run. If you invest in social media marketing with an excellent strategy, and avoid common mistakes that can cost you funds, you will be sure to obtain many new customers that you may have never found otherwise.
