We all know that agencies and marketing experts almost always go on and on about social media.
We also know that some MDs believe that social media is a fad, or not worth the time. The most important thing to remember is that you should be doing it and, additionally, you should be doing it correctly.
What is the correct way of implementing a social media strategy, you ask? We'll tell you...
In this blog we've compiled some of the most common mistakes and misjudgements that companies make when it comes to using their organisation's Twitter profile or their "professional" individual profiles.
Sit back and don't worry if one of them sounds like you - if you can identify it, then you can put it right!
7 Horrible Mistakes You're Making With Social Media
1. Using every platform like Facebook (and we mean the 'worst version of Facebook')
This is not the place to update your followers with inappropriate statuses - play it safe and avoid anything controversial, including commenting on news stories surrounding major political and / or moral issues.
You can share a photo of your employee's wedding, if the team went and it shows you being a friendly workforce and you can update with a snapshot of the team's Fast Food Friday (we do!) - just keep that to a minimum rather than the norm.
As much as your social media accounts should portray company personality, they should also remain professional and unoffensive.
2. Being ignorant
Don't set up social media accounts and not monitor them, that would be a rookie mistake!
Additionally, if you get feedback and it is positive that's fantastic, share it and respond to that lovely person, but don't ignore or delete the negative stuff! Show that you are professional enough to accept criticism and deal with it in a manner that can only make it a positive. If your products or service has disappointed but you have an A* approach to customer service that can go along way in the eye of the public!
3. Choosing 'free and easy' software options
Let us start by saying not all free software is bad, not all easy software is poor. In fact some of the most amazing time-saving software is actually free and very easy to use.
However, not all of these tools will boost your reputation - some may even hinder it. Be wary about which software you choose to use and if it starts to interfere with your reputation by posting automatic adverts from your social media about the tool or something or other, it may be worth a rethink.
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4. Not sharing your best bits - your USP
Don't just be 'one of those' companies that do everything in the same dull way as everybody else. Allow your brand personality or USP to shine through in messaging.
If you're a company that is quite informal and your team are chatty with clients, reflect this in your message, rather than taking a formal approach.
This is where buyer personas are incredibly important to master - know who your ideal customers are and what they expect to get from you.
5. Leaving it to an intern or someone who doesn't 'know' the company
Again, in a similar way to #4, your social media messaging should reflect your company, so the person running your social media has to know everything about you.
Some companies still see social media as an after-thought, which is fine, but it's best to not have it than have it and not be managing it properly. Don't palm your social media accounts off to an intern who is only there for six weeks, because there is going to be an inconsistency that your audience won't like.
If you have an apprentice starting who is going to be there for a while, however, who is actively being integrated into the team then they might have the fresh enthusiasm and technological know-how that your company needs!
6. Not adopting analysis and metric information
A lot of free software includes the ability to find out metrics and information about your social media messaging and its success rate.
Use these tools to study how well your messages are doing. For instance, do they do better when they're about a particular product or service? Schedule more messages about that! Are you getting more responses at a certain time of day? This is when your audience is on social media, use that to your advantage!
7. Inactivity leads to unfollowing!
If you believe that you don't need to do much on social media then that is your choice, but to not do anything means you're probably missing out on a host of opportunities.
Either adopt social media and commit to monitoring it and updating it - including engaging with potential customers - or don't do it at all.
Ask us about social media management and we'll gladly give you some top tips!
