Five social media marketing mistakes

Building your company’s social media presence takes time and effort, and it starts with a solid strategy that includes goals and measurements. However, even the best strategy can be undermined by common mistakes that you may not even realize you are making.

Here are five of them.

Posting irrelevant information. Every post that you make as a business should be integrated into your business, your product and your services. Posting information that does not reflect your brand can create negative brand equity. Think through each post to ensure it represents your brand messaging and has a direct tie into something about your business.

Not responding in a timely manner or engaging your audience with interactive contact. Check your social media assets regularly. A brand that builds a social media presence, then neglects it, reflects negatively on that brand. It’s actually better to not have an account if you don’t have the time and resources to actively manage it and participate. And remember, the main premise behind social media is just that, it is intended to be “social.” Do not continually broadcast your messaging and use your social media assets solely as a distribution portal. Ask questions, share interesting facts and figures, poll your audience.

Sharing too much information. Do some of your friends post EVERY single photo from their uncle’s wedding? Do you know someone that chronicles his or her daily activities constantly? Businesses can be guilty of TMI just as easily as friends can. Before posting event pictures, identify the top five photos that tell your story effectively and post just those in social media.

Believing that social media is free. Yes, social media platforms are free to begin to build your business presence, but that is where “free” ends. In order to represent your business as engaging and interested, social media requires a constant commitment of time and energy.

Believing that you have to be everywhere. There are two things to keep in mind about social media: there will always be new networks developing, and business owners have limited time and money to devote to social media. I recommend doing your research in advance and choosing one or two of the most relevant and effective social media platforms to reach YOUR customers, and focus just on these channels.

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