Social media marketing has been a game changer for small businesses in the 21st century, but are you using it to its full potential? Below, we highlight some of the most common mistakes made by small businesses and what you can do to avoid falling into the trap of creating ‘bad’ social media marketing decisions.
- Failing to create a social media marketing strategy
One of the biggest mistakes that businesses make when dabbling in social media marketing is not planning their strategy. Without a solid plan, posting on social media can be a complete waste of time. Having clear and defined goals and a post plan to refer to is vital, but also leave room to make changes to your plan if required.
- Incorrectly dealing with negative feedback
Whilst dealing with negative feedback can be frustrating, it is an important part of communicating with your customers, assessing brand image and growth. One of the best things about negative feedback is that it helps you to paint a picture of what doesn’t work for your business and things that your consumers dislike.
- Buying followers
In the digital space, buying followers is a big no-no. While it may look impressive if you have thousands or even millions of followers, there’s no point if nobody real is engaging with your content. Growing a social media following can be a slow process and there is no ‘quick fix’ to developing a large following overnight. Instead, put your time and money into creating quality content that users will engage with.
- Not tracking analytics or results
What is the point of creating social content if you don’t keep track of the results? It’s often easy to get swept up in the emotional side of social media, when data can provide you cold, hard truths, allowing you to evolve and grow.
- Posting just to post
When you post to your social media channels, make sure your content is clearly thought out and gives value to your consumers. Don’t fall into the trap of posting for the sake of posting when it doesn’t benefit your brand or give a clear message. Often, no content is a better option than content for the sake of content.
- Too much brand promotion
Steer clear of overpromoting your brand through your social channels. Your followers already know at least the basics of your brand, so do more to educate them and less to push sales on them.
While some of these tips may sound like common sense, they can be easily overlooked, especially in the early stages of trying to build a social media following. Instead, take the time to plan, reassess, and remember that social media is a long game.
