In this internet age, there is no way you can promote your business without social media marketing. If it is not working, you are probably not doing it right. Many companies get lazy with their social media marketing. Most make the mistake of imitating others and eventually failing.
Here are some social media marketing mistakes you must avoid in 2020
- Posting For the Heck of It
You have to make sure that your content is engaging and keeps the conversation going. This means that if you have nothing to say, don’t! Your customers can smell fake from a mile away. Such content feels unauthentic and will disengage your customers. With the overproduction of generic content right now, social media users are increasingly becoming aware of nonsense and have strong filters.
Many people have a misconception that you have to post as much as possible. However, this can have the opposite effect. Low-quality content will disengage your user base and tarnish the name of your brand.
Instead, have a well-planned strategy and make sure that every piece of content is intentional. Plan your content way ahead of time and set up a content calendar.
- Not Having Any Social Media Marketing Agenda
This mistake is particularly common with start-ups. They do not value social media marketing and its importance. Thousands of brands around the world, regardless of their size, are banking on social media to promote their products and reach their audience. Honestly, if you are serious about your business, you should put in a lot of effort and take your time to come up with a strong social media marketing strategy.
Remember that your strategy does not mean posting a particular number of contents every single day. An effective social media marketing strategy should include high-quality images, blog URLs, retweets, hashtags, events, and defining your brand’s message.
- Not Engaging With Your Customers
If you want to improve your customer experience and further retain them, then you have to engage with them and keep them interested and satisfied all at the same time. A common mistake that many brands make is ignoring their customers in the comments section. This puts out the impression that your business is not interested in conversing with the community. When someone reacts to your content make sure that the social media team responds promptly.
The more you react to your customers’ feedback, the more it will motivate them to engage with you. Every comment on your business page is a wonderful opportunity to invite more users to participate. And when you actively participate, it provides an impetus for follower and engagement growth.
- Overpromotion
This is one of the most common mistakes that most brands make when it comes to social media marketing. Overpromoting your products and services will do you no good. Instead, your audience will start to lose interest. Make sure that you do not go overboard with your promotional posts. It is recommended that for every four non-promotional posts, you post one promotional post.
Non-promotional updates can be anything from reshares, blog pieces to infographics, and how-to guides. Try sharing something that your followers will find valuable.
Instead, you should concentrate on establishing a strong relationship with your followers first. How do you go about that? Back in 2018, SurveyMonkey reported that 68% of US adults say that brand trust has a great impact on their purchasing decision.
There are two ways you can do this. Firstly, be authentic with your customers. And secondly, give before being asked. Focus on what you can provide your customers with.
- Ignoring Paid Ads
In your social media marketing arsenal, make sure that paid ads are incorporated as well. There is no one size fits all approach when it comes to paid ads so it is better for you to experiment in order to find your perfect fit. Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook all operate differently and you will find the target audience on each of the platforms. However, understanding your audience and finding out where they like to hang out is essential.
Twitter reports that within 30 days of an ad exposure, 41% of users make a purchase. Paid ads are an excellent channel of reaching those customers you could not with outreach and hashtags. They are an excellent way of:
- Boosting customer engagement
- Generating leads
- Creating brand awareness
- Pulling in traffic to your website
Do not get complacent with social media marketing. Always strategize your paid ads. Performance and results will depend on how precisely you identify your target audience. Setting up particular paid ads across your various social media channels will result in positive outcomes. Let go of the one size fits all approach, it’s so 2018!
- Getting Sensitive with Negative Comments
The internet is indeed a breeding ground for trolls and bullies but you have got to remember that not all negative comments are filled by trolls. They can often be genuine feedback from disgruntled clients. If you ignore them, it is not going to go away. Instead, it will just intensify the problem and make things worse. If you want to build your brand, make sure that you handle your customers’ negative feedback with friendliness and understanding.
If a customer came into your store complaining about your product or service, you would not ignore them. The same goes for your online platform. If you handle the problem upfront it pacifies the disgruntled customer and assures your online community that you have what it takes to handle such situations. Build customer trust by addressing your negative feedback. As you grow your brand, you will occasionally run into not so pleasant experiences. There is no need to be sensitive about it.
- Not evolving Your Strategy
Finally, you have got to grow and adapt. With social media, user engagement and algorithms of platforms are continuously growing and your strategy must evolve along with it. Using data to uncover recent trends, engagement, and providing tailored content are all powerful ways to ensure continued success. You will have to constantly update and improve your social media marketing techniques. It may seem exhausting, but these types of changes will keep you ahead of your competitors.
Conclusion:
Social media provides a powerful way for brands to connect and engage with their audience. If you are able to nail social media marketing it will generate huge amounts of leads and convert them into life long customers. The trick is to find out where your audiences like to hang out and then come up with tailored content. Remember that everyone is on the social media marketing bandwagon these days so generic content is a no-go. Leave them in 2018!
Author Bio:
Emily Johnson is a marketing consultant with 10+ years of experience in the execution of marketing strategies. She is interested in writing and helps SMBs and large firms with her rich experience. Currently, she heads the marketing department at Blue Mail Media, a renowned B2B data solution company based out of Irving, Texas offering database services like email appending, data appending etc.
