Social Media For Business: What Not To Do
By now it should be obvious that you need to have some sort of digital strategy beyond your website for your business. With so many new social media channels being introduced so regularly, it can be a little overwhelming to put your strategy together.Now that you have made the decision to get on with your digital strategy, here are a few things that you should avoid – the don’ts of social media:
Don’t try to be on every channel possible. Not only can it look cluttered on your website or your email signature, it can also be hard to keep up… Most importantly, it can dilute your online audience. You may have a few people on a large number of networks or you could have a large number of people on a few networks and focus on reaching your audience that way.
Don’t forget to put social media buttons or links on your website. The more available you are to your audience the easier they will find you.
Don’t post once and disappear for a month at a time. Make sure you are posting on your channels regularly so you can establish who you are as a brand and make a lasting and meaningful connection with your audience.
Don’t schedule posts and just leave it for weeks at a time. Keep in mind that sometimes posts are inappropriate because of what’s happening in the world. You should keep on top of things just to make sure you don’t need to postpone something. Scheduling tools are there to make things easier for you but they still need to be managed.
Don’t buy followers. Even though it’s available as an option, it’s better to grow your audience slow and steady organically than to have a bunch of people who follow you that don’t care to interact with your brand at all.
Don’t post your personal business on your business channels… Unless it pertains to work! As much as you love pictures of your kids or your grandkids, try to keep your work life and personal life separate.
In spite of #6, don’t forget you’re human. Yes, you have to separate work life and personal life, however, you still need to find ways to connect with your audience as a brand. That’s why you have to develop your brand personality.
Don’t only post content pertaining to sales… or your brand. You don’t want to constantly be hammering a sales tactic in your audience’s face. Remember to also keep it social!
Don’t forget about spelling and grammar. Sure, we’re only human and we all make mistakes, but if your social content is full of errors in frequent posts, it shows that you haven’t put a lot of thought into what you are doing.
Don’t over-post. The idea of social media isn’t that you need to put as much content out there as possible. You don’t want to annoy your audience. The idea is to post effective and creative content that will have a lasting impact.
Don’t talk at people. Try to engage them in a two-way dialogue. That’s how you will make more of a connection.
Don’t ignore comments on your channels. If you leave it too long, your audience will lose interest in you.
Don’t forget to post visuals. Videos and images make your posts way easier to process and they’ll garner more attention in your audience’s newsfeed.
Don’t forget about hashtags but also don’t abuse them.
Don’t launch on social media without a strategy. You may think it’s an easy thing to do, and you are right, setting up your profile may not take much effort, however you need to know what happens after the set up.