The Killer Mistakes Online Businesses Make On Social Media

Why take your brand to social media if you aren’t going to make the most of it?

How successful is your brand on social media?…

Take your time and answer the aforementioned questions honestly.

Does your answer to the second question come with a defeated countenance and a sigh, I understand. It happens to even the best of us. And until you find out what you were doing wrong, you will end up loathing the idea of going on social media in the first place.

That’s why there is a post like this; to show you where you were getting it wrong on social media, so you will know how to do better. Ride with me!

Choosing The Wrong Platforms

Trust me, you are only wasting your time if you are using the wrong social media platform for your brand. It’s like scooping water with a sieve: Yes, that wasteful.  In choosing a social media platform for your brand, you have to know two things:

  • Know your customer – who are your customers? Where are you most likely going to find them? Having an understanding of the best platforms to connect with your prospective customers is the first step to doing it right.
  • Know your Business – what is your business all about? Is it all about retail, you probably should invest more in a social media platform like Instagram? Is it customer service related, then a social media platform like Facebook is more apt for that cause?

So, have an understanding of who your customers are, what your business is about, then you will be on the right path to choosing a suitable social media platform.

Unprofessionalism

This can’t be overemphasized. Some businesses on social fail with the quality of content they share on social media and how they associate on social media. On the quality of contents shared, the quality of contents shared and the amount of work put into it is a reflection of your work ethics; that could tell your customers or clients if they could trust you to deliver your services at its tidiest potential.

Also, professionalism in terms of how you associate on social media is key, this doesn’t imply that you should be too rigid but find a way to be witty, sarcastic, funny, and still be classy and professional about it; as doing it otherwise could be a turn off to some of your prospective clients or customers.

So whatever it takes; take quality pictures of your products, proofread your contents before you share; show your clients that you care about those little things.

Frequency of Posts

Oftentimes, most social media managers are confused about how frequently one should post; because like it or not, posting too much or less could be detrimental. So you ask, how often should I post then?

As culled from Coshedule the following is a breakdown of the recommended number of times  you should post on social media:

Facebook –   1 post per day

Instagram –   1-2 posts per day

Twitter –       15 tweets per day

Pinterest –    11 pins per day

LinkedIn –      1 post per day

Google+ –      2 posts per day

Always doing things in moderation is oftentimes advisable. So, anything above or below the recommended post frequency could either make your brand appear too thirsty or unserious.

Being Antisocial

Why be on “social media” if you can’t socialize properly with people. The fact that you are a brand doesn’t restrict you from giving reasonable contributions here and there. Endeavor to interact online; the more you engage online, the more your traffic increase on social, the more visible you become online.

It could be you joining in on a conversation in your industry, you checking up on your clients occasionally or going to like or comment on your follower’s posts  – especially those that are active on your page, that way you give them that sense of value.

While taking caution to be professional about it, don’t be scared to interact online.

Inappropriate Use of Hashtags

It is already established that hashtags are one of the key elements that should be added to posts to drive traffic. While that is the goal, you want to make sure you are doing it just right. Familiarize yourself with hashtags that are trendy in your industry, make use of analyzers to help you identify those trendy hashtags in your industry; trying to do otherwise won’t help you get the expected engagements on your posts, instead, it will reduce it.

Also, make sure you don’t overuse the hashtags; there is such a thing as misuse of hashtags, make sure you don’t fall, victim.

Underutilization of Facebook Ads

This one time, it not bad to use a cheaper and more effective advertising means. Using Facebook Ads costs $0.12 per click, which is way cheaper than what Google AdWords offers per click – between $1-$2

Facebook Ad drives traffic as well as Google AdWords, so you don’t have to hold any reservation towards its efficiency; you are winning on both ends: driving traffic to your page and saving you some bucks on advertising.

Lack of Strategy

Most people open social media pages for their businesses without a clear-cut plan on how to go about it. If there is no plan on what you set out to achieve on your social media page, you are most likely not going to come out successful with it. Is your plan to create a communication channel between you and your customers, drive traffic to your page, convert leads to sales?; whatever the case may be, develop a strategy that is like a blueprint of what you intend to achieve and develop means to track progress as you go on with it.

Overselling of Your Brand

I understand you are using your social media platform to mirror what your brand represents; which means you create more targeted posts to boost your brand. While that is indisputable, you should also have in mind that overselling your brand on social media could make you be too much in the faces of your customers, which could be boring and uninteresting.

Find ways to make posts that are more in touch with your customer’s lives; it could be inspirational, humorous, etc. Whatever the case may be, be creative about it.

Refrain from making the aforementioned mistakes and watch your brand grow significantly on social media.

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