It’s pretty hard to be involved with social media and never make a mistake — not even a teensy weensy one. Most of us make mistakes, and it kind of is reassuring to me that it’s universal. On the other hand, when a business is trying to invest wisely in social media marketing, the stakes are higher, and mistakes can be harder to overcome.
One of the reasons social media marketing is so powerful is because it enables a “faceless” corporation to become a friend. That connection is powerful! But part of friendship is overlooking mistakes, and some mistakes are easier to forgive than others. Bob Hutchins recently shared a nice infographic on BuzzPlant that looks at 9 Mistakes Businesses Make On Social Media, and the list looks easy to do.
Are You Making One Of These Marketing Mistakes?
- Focusing on the quantity of followers, not the quality. A few interactive friends are better than a whole pile of absentee followers.
- Not posting engaging content regularly. What do you try to read every day because you look forward to the new stuff? That effect is what you want.
- Not converting followers into paid customers. Catch the eye of the 12% who go from looking to purchasing.
- Focusing on too many social media channels. Be where your tribe is and build other outreaches when resources allow it.
- Having no ‘brand personality’. 22% of companies have a dedicated social media manager and that helps get personality into the mix.
- Spamming. People are familiar with the pushiness of spam and will tune out too many sales pitches.
- Doing everything manually. If you don’t know how to automate something, look for expert advice because there are amazing tools that will change your life.
- Broadcasting the same message across all your channels. Mix it up and keep the people interested, especially those who follow you on several sites.
- Not having a strategy at all. That’s like not having a business plan.
Social media is an integrated part of modern culture, and it’s easy to make mistakes. But the biggest mistake you can make is to ignore it. Have you made any of these mistakes? What would you add to the list?