The 5 Don’ts of Social Media Marketing

While social media is an essential marketing tool for individuals and small businesses, it has to be utilized correctly in order to be effective. You want to take care to ensure that you aren’t losing followers and making the wrong impression. Building strong connections, networking, and earning credibility and respect among your target audience should be your main goals. Here are the 5 don’ts of social media marketing:

Don’t spam your followers

It’s ok to use your social media profiles for some self-promotion, but do it sporadically and strategically. If you’re constantly bombarding followers with self-promotional material, such as links to your own products and services, they’re going to get annoyed. You’ll likely end up losing some followers, too, as they’ll simply get sick of seeing the same links and messages. It’s essential to balance the content that you share and to provide your followers and connections with useful, insightful content that they’ll find interesting and helpful. You’ll not only earn their interest, but also their respect as a trusted and worthy profile to follow.

Don’t neglect your accounts

You can post too much and too often on your social media accounts, but you don’t want to post so sporadically that your profile is stale, outdated, and uninteresting. Keep your accounts current and fresh by updating frequently with smart, useful, and entertaining content. If a customer seeks out your social media profile only to find that it hasn’t been updated in weeks or months, it’s going to leave a bad impression. Create a plan for sharing content and posting updates on all of your accounts each week.

Don’t ignore your followers

One of the best things about social media sites is that they allow businesses to interact directly with customers and potential customers. It’s essential that you engage with your followers by answering their questions and responding to their comments in a timely manner. Let them know that you’re listening and that you appreciate what they have to say. You have an excellent opportunity to make a positive, lasting impression on customers by interacting and responding to their questions and concerns through social media.

Don’t be inconsistent

Branding is so important for any business, and it needs to be carried through on social media accounts. Set up your profiles to be consistent with your brand by using your logo and tag lines. Your message should be cohesive and consistent across all platforms, from Facebook to Twitter to Instagram, etc. While each social site allows you to connect in different ways, the message that your brand sends should always be the same.

Don’t forget who your audience is

Your audience should be a mix of your target market, peers, and competitors. Keep them in mind as you choose what content to share. Remember that your followers are interested in what you have to say, so strive to provide useful content. Aim to earn more followers, set goals, and track your progress. By taking care of your social media profiles, you’ll be able to grow your audience, and in turn, earn more customers.

Looking for guidance in determining your social media strategy? Book a free consult today by clicking here.