11 Ways to Completely Ruin Your Social Media Strategy
June 17, 2016
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Action Digital is a full-service digital agency based in Cyprus offering services in web
June 17, 2016
Long gone are the days when social media was just a tool for college student to make friends and hook up; today the many platforms that exist have evolved into an imperative tool for businesses, large and small, to communicate, engage and interact with their fans, clients and target audiences.
But while using the tool may seem like an easy way of getting new business and retaining loyal customers, it is just as easy to get it wrong and send out the wrong message for your brand. Here, Action Digital has laid out 11 ways you can ruin your social media strategy.
There are a multitude of social media platforms from the internationally popular Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIN or Instagram, to the more localised Chinese and Russian channels. Using the right platform for your specific brand’s target demographic is vital to the success of your strategy. Even the popular social media platforms have certain demographics which use them most regularly so it’s important to see which one will work for you.
Analytics are here to help you and although it may seem like a mine-field of confusing data, the information provided is extremely useful for showing you what works and what doesn’t. Using analytics can not only show you where your followers are coming from and what they are reading, it also shows you where they are coming to you from online and with useful metrics such as most successful times of the day for re-tweeting or sharing, you can plan your strategy so it reaches the most, and the most important people.
This leads us to the third point which is all about timing. If you are posting at 3pm and your followers are all online between 8 and 10pm then you are missing out on a crucial opportunity to interact with them and get yourself seen. Use the analytics tools to check out the success of your posts at various times of the day to garner when you get the most likes, views, shares or engagements and take it from there.
Social media use has become pretty constant with the increasing use of smartphone and mobile usage. Posting too much can make a possible lead annoyed or feel bombarded and lose interest, whereas posting too little may not generate enough interest at all and may see you missing crucial potential clients. You need to post at least once a day in order to get noticed and start attracting a following, but again, the amount you post also depends on the particular platform you are using.
It’s simply not enough anymore to just schedule a post a day and leave it at that. Clients increasingly are looking for brands and companies that will engage, respond and interact with them. If someone comments on a post, write back. If someone retweets, thank them. Don’t ignore your social media clients because it could make them leave and look elsewhere, whereas responding to a potential lead could easily convert to new businesses.
Social media users today are inundated with online information so it’s essential to ensure your message stands out from the crowd. And with users proven to be more drawn to visual rather than text heavy posts, including eye-catching pictures, graphs and visuals is all the more important nowadays. Facebook has shown that there is a 6.5% higher chance of a person engaging with you if you use visuals so what are you waiting for!
It’s great to share relevant articles or directly promote your brand on social media, however it’s not always enough. Users don’t want to be constantly sold things and always pushing your brand can make you look a bit, well, pushy! Curating interesting, unique and compelling content is a great way of getting people to notice you online so start blogging and sharing your own articles instead of always relying on external data.
We’ve all heard about SEO for articles and websites; well the same applies for social media and by not using keywords in your posts you’ll be missing out of a wealth of awesome social media benefits. Have a chat with your marketing team (or with us!) about what keywords your brand is Search Engine Optimizing around and start implementing those words in your posts.
One of the great beauties of social media is that it encourages two-way conversation between brands and their followers and hence giving brand an invaluable tool to get feedback from clients. One big mistake brands make on social media is not listening to this wealth of advice from the people that matter the most – the consumer. Instead of just sending out posts that are all about you, invite followers to let you know how you are doing, engage them and interact.
An important thing to always bear in mind, is that the social media profile of your company should reflect the brand identity as opposed to the opinions, values and interests of the person doing the posting. Make sure the content is relevant to what you are all about, curate a unique voice and personality that mirrors that of the brand and always stay true to the beliefs and morals of the company.
Sure, social media is a great place to share articles, opinions and interests but as a company you have to be careful not to stray into the dangerous waters of the controversial, inappropriate or offensive. Keep in mind your target audience and your demographic and make sure that what you post is in good taste or you might end up losing potential clients who are turned off by what they see and read.
