Common Social Media Mistakes
There are no Participation Badges for Social Media, Search Engine Optimization or any other forms of Internet Marketing. Just doing it isn’t good enough. It MUST be done right or it could have the absolute opposite effect you are looking for.
Follow Me/Like Me… Ask Why: As of today’s date (I expect these sediments will alter over time) I am not an active Twitter user. I do not buy into the hype that surrounds it. I do follow certain industry leaders for relevant and up to date information. I also have those who follow me within the industry (apparently). I haven’t given them ANY reason to follow me. I have NEVER (as of today’s date) Tweeted!! If you truly want people to follow you, your company or your brand, give them a reason to follow you. Ask yourself, ‘why should someone want to follow me?’ and give them quality reasons to follow you and use you as a valuable resource.
Don’t Spam: We all hate spam, so don’t allow your Social Media outreaches to become spammy and not present your followers crap that has no or little value. Even if you believe the information you’re providing is valuable on some level, think about your average follower’s demographic to determine if it is really valuable or not.
Promote Yourself to a Point: Definitely put a small spin on some of your posts but do NOT make each and every post a sales call or commercial for your business.
Provide Relevant Information: I don’t care if you had a team lunch at restaurant X. If I just bought a home through you, I don’t care 2 weeks later that the latest sales trends are up/down from 2 months ago. I do care that your product is now improved or that there has been a change within your industry that can or will affect me.
Update Frequently: Your Social Media platform should be ‘social’. By this I mean, if you have it, use it. Don’t set it up and then ignore it. Look at most small businesses that get sold on the fact that Social is the way to go so they start a blog. They post 4 things in the first 2 months and then 8 months later, we’re still waiting for something new and valuable from them. You don’t have to be social daily, or even weekly for most businesses. But monthly is a goal that most every business should be able to achieve at a minimum.
Remember, in regards to Social Media or SEO (Search Engine Marketing) you MUST have a goal. Build a plan to achieve your goal. Put your plan into motion with dedicated resources. Revisit the plan. Adjust your plan.
