Running a business is not easy and it requires a large amount of time and hustle! Entrepreneurs don’t have time to get sucked in by social media, however, they know that they need to have a strong presence in order to market their business. It’s important to make sure that the time spent on social media is done quickly and correctly so you can focus on the important things – like running your business!
Whether you handle the social media accounts yourself or you have hired someone to do it for you, your time is valuable! So today we are going over 7 common social media mistakes that you or your business may be making in order to help you make the most out of the time spent on social media.
You Are Not Defining Your Brand:
Your social media profiles are a direct reflection of your brand and your business’s story, beliefs, morals, mission statement, and message. You need to have a well-defined sense of who your brand is. Don’t get distracted by the “need to post” to the point where you have steered away from any of those messages you are trying to send. Take time to figure out what your brand’s story is, and how you can communicate it in a way that’s meaningful to your target market.
You Don’t Know Your Audience:
Your audience wants to know you have more to offer than pushy sales messaging or products. Have you taken a deep look at who exactly you are targeting your message to? Do you know what content resonates best with them? Have you figured out any other interests your followers may have? Remember, social media is about building relationships, and successful relationships are never one-sided.
Posting Too Much or Too Little:
Your audience needs to hear from you often or they will forget about you. However, posting TOO much can also annoy them! You need to find a healthy balance. Make sure to stay fresh in their minds while keeping them excited about seeing your posts and not bombarding their timelines. So, what is a good posting schedule? Well, this may depend on your audience. When you get to know your target audience (in the step above) you should get to know their approximate social media habits. Are they early risers? Then post early mornings and during the day. Are they busy executives? Post during lunch hours and after 6 pm. Are they high school students? Post after 3 or 4 pm.
Then, take into account how many times you post – since you want to stay fresh in their minds make sure to post a minimum of 3x a week (per platform). If you can post once a day, this is even better! Never post more than 2 to 3 times a day (Twitter may be an exception, as it refreshes constantly. But, keep it minimal).
You Have No Real “Plan” For Content:
Take some time to create a good social media strategy. Plan your content! You can create a physical or digital social media calendar with pre-planned content on particular days (like Monday Motivation and Tuesday tips) and add when you will add things like “promotional sales” etc. This will help you stay on track with consistent posts, while also supporting any goals you’ve set. Don’t worry, this doesn’t have to be a “set in stone” plan, but it enables you to build buzz and maximize results around campaigns or events, keeps your audience interested, and attracts new eyes to your content.
You Are Ignoring Comments:
Whether they love or hate you – customers are going to let you know and chances are, they will do it publicly on your social media! Why? Because thousands if not millions of others will see what they think about you. In fact, tons of customer complaints no longer go to the company’s email or customer service reps. They prefer to make their voices heard publicly, where you can’t ignore them if you want to save face! While you don’t want to waste any time entertaining the trolls out there – you should never ignore legitimate complaints.
If a customer is upset – ALWAYS take the time and opportunity to show customers you care about the issue! If there are concerns you can’t resolve, you can generally take the issue off social channels by asking them to email you directly.
Also, make sure to thank the happy customers – while not every great comment about your business/services can get a response (especially if you are receiving hundreds a day) make sure to take some time as often as possible to respond and thank those customers for their kind words and for their purchases! Keep those relationships blooming and they will remain loyal.
You Are Buying Followers:
First, we will say this… NEVER… EVER…. BUY FOLLOWERS! EVER! So many businesses and individuals are obsessed with their follower counts – but, numbers don’t matter if they are NOT true followers or an authentically interested customer. You are better off SLOWLY building your authentic following rather than purchasing a fake audience who will never actually support your business anyway. There are so many reasons you don’t want to buy followers that you can read HERE.
Your Profile Is Incomplete:
Your social media profile/bio is SUPER important and you need to maximize it’s potential! It enables you to convey what you do and who you are in the short amount of time that you have to capture a visitor’s attention! Make sure as much of your biography or ‘About’ sections are filled in! Since social profiles and content can also rank in search – remember to hashtag keywords in your Twitter and Instagram bios where it makes sense. And don’t be afraid to have a little fun or show your brand’s personality here either and always use high-quality profile and header images!
Remember – Social media is constantly changing, and even audience habits change often. Don’t be afraid to test content and change things around every now and then. Show your brand’s personality and have fun!
Do you post daily for your business and are your super proud of how you have told your brands’ story? Leave us a link below so we can check it out! We would love to see it.