Top Ten Mistakes Small Businesses Make on Social Media
Posted
by
Media Fusion Technologies, Inc.
on Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Unfortunately, far too many small businesses
fail miserably when attempting to manage their own social media accounts on a
weekly basis, and end up actually harming their business as a result.
Social Media
is not just a marketing tool. It
affects every single layer, department, and person within a modern organization
including Customer Service, Recruitment and HR, Sales, CEO thought leadership,
Innovation, Marketing and PR, Internal Communications, and Personal Lives.
An
organization should never sit still with its online marketing efforts, because Social
Media most certainly does not! Traditional outbound marketing is becoming less
and less effective as Social Media users can choose what they want to see. Statistics show that 71% of people state they are more likely to purchase from a brand that they follow online. So how do you get them to follow you?
Unfortunately,
far too many small businesses fail miserably when attempting to manage their
own social media accounts on a weekly basis, and end up actually harming their
business as a result. And here’s how:
• Choosing the Wrong Platform(s)
All social
media platforms are not created alike… and having a presence on all may not be necessary. Understanding which platforms are best suited to
promoting your business is paramount to your business’s success. Choosing the
wrong ones and too many is a complete waste of time and resources which will
adversely affect your business’s success. It's critical to know where your customers and potential customers are online, and how to most effectively engage them.
• Unprofessional Graphics
This one is
often an absolute deal killer! You do not get a second chance to make
a first impression. In this day and age of the smart phone, everyone is a photographer
(or so they are lead to believe). The fact of the matter is, people scrolling
through their time lines are quickly able to discern quality from… not so much.
When you are a restaurant posting dark, gray, unfocused images of your food, it
certainly does not entice people to dine there. Widely angled images that lack
appropriate cropping, and overall poor judgement in content end up distracting
people and making them quickly scroll past your post, never giving you a
chance.
• Frequency of Posts
Each social
media platform has a specific number of posts per day that are recommended for
a business based on proven research and statistics. This number varies depending on the type of business, your goals,
and your target demographic. Posting too often makes you lose followers
quickly. Not posting often enough makes you lose potential business. In addition, posting on the wrong days or at the wrong time of day makes a difference. It all matters. The
balance is intricate. The good news is, the internet is packed with statistics
on what works and what does not.
• Lacking Planned and Strategic Content
Okay, so you
may have figured out most of the posting protocol. But what are you really
posting and when? Does it matter to your audience? Does it attract new followers and
drive traffic to your website? Is it actually turning people away? Is your
business presence on social media - if any - worth seeing by your existing
customers, and is it representative of your business to attract new customers?
More people than ever before may get exposed to your content thanks to social
media. Only a few of them will actually consume your content on your website
first (if at all). A focused, effective, and comprehensive social media business marketing campaign will create brand awareness, increase traffic, and build your brand.
• Misuse of Hashtags
To hashtag or not to hashtag? Fact is, statistics for each social media
platform have shown that having the proper number of hashtags
per post can radically increase reach and engagement. Okay. So maybe you’ve done your research and mastered that aspect. But what
hashtags have you chosen? Most often the wrong ones will never attract new
followers and can drive current followers away. Using hashtags that are obvious
and only 'preaching to the choir', doesn’t attract new followers. Using hashtags
that are way too exclusive to your business is an enigmatic disaster. To be successful, you need to know your industry, follow your competitors and customers and suppliers, follow hashtag trends daily to see who is using what and to what degree, and constantly monitor your social media analytics and website traffic driven from social media referrals.
• Over Promoting Your Brand
One of the most common mistakes of every small business is
to over promote their brand at every opportunity on every post! Give it a break already!
Think about it. Is that what you really want to see when you are in your sweatpants
leisure time at home, scrolling through your timeline? Do you want to see a business that you follow spewing their
greatness with every single post post, multiple times a day? I certainly do not. A
successful and strategic marketing plan on social media includes a balanced consistency
of content that includes things that followers want to see. Things that intrigue
followers, draw them in, educate them, entertain them, inspire them, and – yes – then convince them to use your brand. Constantly pushing
advertisements and sales copies no longer works on today's increasingly
social-media-savvy consumers, which means businesses need to take on a more
strategic, relationship-building approach.
• Unprofessional Posts
So you may think that what you have to say is funny, awesome, trendy, cool, or has massive swag. But is it appropriate? Posts need to
contain, not only the proper content, but the acceptable number of characters
based on the relative format. In addition, the content needs to be relevant,
professional, and proper to your followers and desired followers. Posting
content that is not only off color, but completely out of relevant context will
drive people away from your brand.
• Lack of Graphics
Statics show that a vast percentage of followers will stop
scrolling and engage a post that contains a quality graphic over a straight
text post. Quality graphic being the operative
term. It’s also referred to as Visual Content Marketing. The facts are that 37% of marketers said visual marketing was
the most important form of content for their business, second only to blogging
(38%). Additionally, 74% of social media marketers use visual assets in their
social media marketing, ahead of blogs (68%) and videos (60%).
• Not Utilizing Facebook Boosts /
Advertising
The average cost per click on Google Adwords is between $1
and $2 and depending on the keyword targeted, you can end up paying $50 or more
for a single click. Through targeted boosted posts, you can send traffic via
Facebook and Pinterest for as little as $0.12 per click. Why pay ten or twenty
times as much for each visit when social media ads make earning that traffic
quick and easy? The fact is that Facebook boosts and advertisements are the least
expensive and most effective method of advertising you business on social
media.
• Being Social
Engage, interact, like their posts, leave comments, respond to your comments and messages immediately. Every day you need to be engaging your followers and potential followers! The fact is that people don’t buy diddly from people they
don’t know, like, or trust!! Today, awareness, trust, and affinity are largely
built online. On mobile devices and on social platforms long before they call
you or set foot in your store. Despite that, social media accounts for less
than 1 percent of average marketing budgets. Why? Social media marketing is an
art form, and with the right social media marketing solution, business owners
can master it. Statistics show that 71%
of people state they are more likely to purchase from a brand that they follow
online. But why should they follow yours? The success of your social media
efforts boils down to one thing: Likeability. People will follow your brand
because they just plain like you and they like what you have to offer on social
media, such as quality and entertaining content, discounts and special
promotions, or customer service.
The Wrap Up
Of all of the things that social media encompasses, time consuming ranks among the top! The average American spends 40 minutes per day just checking their personal Facebook feed! That's more time than they spend with their pets or, arguably, their children. For a small business, a social-media presence can be a time-devouring bottomless pit.
The bottom
line is, concentrate on doing what you do best and hire others to do what they
do best. At some point in every small business owner’s growth period, they
reach a tipping point where they need to acknowledge the fact that, in order to
continue to grow and flourish, it is time to outsource certain aspects of the
business. Most often, marketing is one of the first. Be wise and follow the
advice and paths of others before you who have faced the same challenges. Focus
on doing what you do best… and flourish.
The trick with ‘engagement’ based, social media correlation
data, is that you can’t point to a single discernible area where it has the
greatest impact. Instead, it’s the entire funnel. Businesses need to
personalize their social media… People are tired of the same old things.
Remember, relationships start with a personal connection. And people do business
with people!
Of course, you don't have to be a social-media expert to effectively market your business online... or do you? Do you really have the time to get involved, remain involved, and be entirely effective? If you are not social-media savvy enough and your time is most effectively spent being focused on your business, then it's best that you don't attempt to manage your company's social media presence. Hire an expert social media manager to handle your online presence, and concentrate on growing your business.
Categories:
Website Development
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Social Media Marketing
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Content Marketing
Tagged: social media, social media marketing