24 Apr Still More Social Media Mistakes
As long as there’s social media, there will be mistakes made on it by businesses that take the DIY approach to writing, posting and following. To be fair, even big brands occasionally make big blunders on their social media accounts, much to their national embarrassment and outrage by former customers who call for a boycott. But for small-to-medium-size enterprises, it’s lack of experience or knowledge – rather than arrogance – that can be your downfall. With this in mind, we offer the following pitfalls to watch out for and correct if you recognize your own business here!
Not knowing who your followers are – Not all followers of business social media accounts are legit. Some are bots, while others are not exactly family-friendly or offer scammy schemes (and are most likely also bots). Twitter seems to be the social media platform that attracts questionable followers the most. Some business accounts, however, seem content to let them stay – either because the person in charge of the account never bothers to see who’s following, or just doesn’t care, figuring that the more followers, the better.
Truth be told, however, shady followers can damage your credibility. As just mentioned, leaving them in place tells visitors that you aren’t paying attention or can’t be bothered to block them. This could make them question what else you don’t care about – which is not what you want potential customers to do! Check your followers daily – or at least weekly – and block those you consider inappropriate.
Following the wrong business accounts – There’s nothing wrong with following businesses in your industry or profession. When done right, you can build a good support network of colleagues. For example, a dentist in Miami can follow a dentist in Chicago, because they’re not competing for patients in the same geographic area. What’s counterproductive is when you follow your direct competitors who are swimming in the same pool. If your enterprise is business-to-business (B2B), focus instead on following businesses that could use your products/services.
Not including a link to your website in your social media posts – Here is an example from our very own experience. Another digital marketing agency liked several of our Instagram posts in a row, and left a nice comment on one. However, there was no link to its website in any of its own posts, or on its profile page. In addition, its most recent Instagram post was made in 2022! A Google search of the agency’s name didn’t produce any relevant results. Visitors are very likely to question the credibility of any business planting so many red flags – much less the obvious of not giving people a way to reach your website!
No separation between church and state – Our blog post – “Social Media Pet Peeves” covered this mistake, but it bears repeating, as political and social issues have become even more contentious. If you’re a business professional, your business social media accounts should be all about your business and your industry – as well as your business’s community involvement, if applicable. Period. We’ve seen numerous accounts by company founders, CEOs, etc., that mixed in plenty of personal and political opinions. Everyone is entitled to their own, of course, but views on such topics should be expressed on your personal social media accounts.
By the way, be careful, even if you’re already doing this. Be sure you’re posting to the correct account, or you could alienate a good percentage of your current or potential customers if one of your more outspoken viewpoints were to wind up on your business account!
Posting the same thing repeatedly – Again, for some reason, this offence tends to occur more often on Twitter. You may think that posting your product or service several times a day, every day, will put it in front of more people, but it really won’t. Instead, the eyeballs you hope to capture will just glaze over, and your post will be ignored – as will perhaps all of your subsequent posts.
One reason for this all-too-common mistake is the belief that social media is the same as traditional advertising. As the name implies, “social media” means talking to members of your target audience, rather than talking at them. Engaging people is the key to success, not shouting a sales pitch.
Having a personal account instead of a business account – You may not realize the difference, but a business Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., account gives you access to analytic tools and data. According to Hubspot writer Martina Bretous, “When you have a business account, you have access to a slew of data that you wouldn’t know otherwise. Everything from how your users are finding you to which posts are driving the most traffic. That insight will be invaluable in building out your … strategy and gaining insights into what resonates with your audience.”
Retweeting too frequently – Bretous offers the following insights on this common mistake:
“When a user lands on your Twitter profile, they should have a good idea of what you’re about and know what to expect from your page. If your page is 90% retweets, it makes it difficult to make that assessment. Instead, have a healthy mix of tweets, retweets, replies, and threads.”
The Take-Home Message and Our Blatant Self-Promotion
Doing social media right demands a good investment of time and resources. If your business can benefit from the advice given here, we feel that we’ve helped make the digital marketing world a better place! But if you decide you’d rather leave it to the pros, that’s what we’re here for! Virtual Stacks Systems provides comprehensive social media marketing services, as well as PPC advertising, website design and redesign, SEO marketing and much more! Contact us to get started.