These days, most businesses understand that social media is an important part of online marketing. It’s a great opportunity to connect with your audience and fantastic for brand exposure. Of course, it’s still a relatively new game, which means many brands are still experimenting with different tactics.
The issue with social media is that if you make a mistake, there could be thousands or even millions of people that watch you do it. Here is how to overcome some of the most common social media marketing pitfalls.
Not Having a Strategy
In order to deliver an effective message to your audience, you need to have a social media strategy in place. Often, companies waste valuable time and energy on social media because they don’t have a clear strategy in place.
Before you start blindly posting across various social media platforms, take the time to come up with a plan that will best work for your business. You want to make sure that you set yourself realistic goals and put the money or necessary resources aside to commit to the plan.
You should think about having a distinct social media voice, developing a policy in line with your brand, setting up a social media calendar and outlining your goals. A social media marketing expert will be able to help you with each of these steps in order to maximize success.
Not Committing to the Plan
Setting up a basic social media account is relatively simple. The problem is that many businesses take that first step of setting up an account and then don’t commit to a proper plan.
The issue with having an inactive account is that it creates a worse impression than not having one at all. You don’t want potential customers to find you on Twitter, only to see that the last time you posted an update was over a year ago.
While it may be frustrating if you don’t see instant results, don’t let that defeat you. You need to think about the long-term gains. If something isn’t working, then improve performance by looking at competitors, analyzing metrics, and adapting to your audience.
Posting at the Wrong Times
In order to succeed in the world of social media marketing, you need to do more than understand your target audience. You need to carefully analyse when they are most active in order to ensure that your posts are seen.
With so many people and businesses constantly sharing updates, posts can quickly become lost in a users’ feed. The last thing you want to do it lessen your chances of being spotted, by posting when your customers are fast asleep.
Wasting Time on the Wrong Platforms
It’s easy to assume that the more social media platforms you are on, the more people you can reach. The thing to remember is that each platform serves a different purpose and caters to a unique set of users.
Not only do you want to carefully select those platforms that are most likely to include your target market, but you should also devise a unique strategy for each platform you use. What works on Twitter, might not work on Facebook or Instagram.
You want to get the best return on your investment, so focus your time and energy on the platforms that will allow you to reach your target customers. There is no point throwing away money on the wrong set of users.
Boring Your Audience
The one thing you want to avoid is to lose the audience that you have worked so hard to attract in the first place. That is why it is crucial to have the right strategy in place and set clear goals for your business.
Make the effort to engage with your audience and be very careful about what is being posted at all times. Try and showcase your personality, without coming off as too self-promotional. Think about your audience, their likes, and try to engage them in interesting conversation.
You are facing tough competition on social media sites, so you don’t want to end up annoying your audience. Try and find the right balance to avoid irritating your customers by posting too frequently, or becoming invisible by not posting enough. Take the time to figure out what is working for your brand and stick to it.
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