There is no doubt that if used effectively, social media can be a powerful tool. It is a place where you can instantly connect with not just your specific target market, but also your loyal fans who are actively interested in your brand. Social media is an easy and affordable way to create buzz for a launch, promote products or sales and generally keep your brand at the forefront of your consumers’ minds.
Your followers have chosen to click ‘like’ on your page, engage with your message and establish a continuous connection – but like all relationships, care must be taken for a sustained communication.
All it takes is a disgruntled customer or a poorly timed post and you could potentially see a significant drop in your audience. To avoid this, it is vital that businesses be aware of the social media traps they may find themselves in if they’re not careful. Here are 8 of the biggest blunders you could make on social media.
How to fall out of favour on social media
1. The biggest point of conversation is yourself
Let’s be honest – people may follow you or your brand but that doesn’t mean you’re all they want to hear about. It is a good idea to add some personality but don’t forget that ultimately, people want to know how you can help them. Focus your content in such a way that it is relevant to their lives and can help them, otherwise they’ll find someone else who will.
2. Post overload
Though it may be true that posting frequently is beneficial for brand recognition, this doesn’t mean you should start bombarding your followers with unnecessary content. Each platform has a recommended number of posts per day with Facebook being around 1 – 2 and Twitter usually 2 – 4. Any more than this and you run the risk of appearing to spam your followers and losing audience.
Think about it from your followers’ perspective – if one page continuously posted uninteresting, generic content every hour, would you become annoyed and unfollow?
3. Repetition, repetition, repetition…
Post overload can also occur through repetition. Some companies feel the need to re-post content as they want to make sure it is seen by maximum number of followers. However, this is more likely to backfire and give the impression that your company is too lazy to create new content.
Another form of repetition is when a company continuously regurgitates another page’s content without any original thought. If done sparingly, your company can appear in touch with the industry and up-to-date with current affairs. If done too frequently, then your followers may as well go and follow a different page that has something to say.
4. Lacking visual aids
As the old saying goes, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ and this is especially true when it comes to social media. In a time where people are consuming more content than ever before, it is unrealistic to think that they are going to stop and read your entire post unless they are immediately interested in what you have to say and the best way to do this is through images and videos.
To spend time and effort creating an interesting article to then post it without a visual aid is doing your page an injustice. Give your content the best chance of reaching your target market and find an interesting and appropriate image to go with it.
5. Lack of audience engagement
One of the great things about social media is that you are able to easily interact with your audience. Responding to comments, direct messages and feedback is always important and makes your followers feel as if they are being heard and are appreciated.
6. Too many #hashtags!
#Not #everything #needs #to #be #a #hashtag! Overusing hashtags is not only annoying but it also makes your post difficult to read and is more likely to be dismissed by your followers.
The purpose of a hashtag is to extend the reach of a post to a target market. All social media platforms slightly differ when it comes to how many hashtags are appropriate but generally speaking, 1 to 2 maximum is a good idea.
7. All take and no give
It is not unusual for social media accounts to ask followers to share, retweet, comment and like their content to extend a reach of a post, however, make sure you are offering your followers something in return. If you are constantly asking your audience for favours and giving nothing back, then there is no incentive for them to participate and your requests will most likely result in a decline in followers.
8. Mass-tagging
Mass-tagging without permission is an annoying tactic some businesses employ in an effort to extend the reach of their post. Not only does this put the people tagged off side, but it is often against the Terms of Service of many platforms and is treated as spam, commonly resulting in the offending account being suspended.
A successful social media account takes a lot of time and effort but if done correctly, it can be powerful tool that dramatically increases a company’s interaction with their target market. By avoiding these 8 simple mistakes, you are giving your social media accounts the best chance at success in today’s competitive company.
Photo courtesy of Jason Howie on Flickr
