5 Ways You’re Failing at Social Media
The Sprocket Report
This article has been updated on 11/8/2022 with the article entitled “Are You Failing at Social Media Marketing? Here Are 5 Possible Reasons Why:”
The old year is fading away, but social media marketing most decidedly is NOT. Facebook may tighten visibility again and the popularity of various platforms may wax and wane, but online engagement with your clients will continue to be an important part of your marketing mix. Are you failing to make the most of this opportunity?
We are all bound to make a few significant failures in our social media marketing. Maybe we used grammar more suited to a three-year-old than an executive or we made a snarky comment that not another soul found even remotely amusing. In the world of social media, however, there’s always a new post tomorrow—or maybe even later today—so those aren’t the fails to really worry about.
But if you’re guilty of any of the failures below, then you are seriously hurting your marketing efforts. Take a look and see where you can improve your social media performance in the coming year.
Here Are the Top 5 Social Media Fails:
5. You aren’t doing any.
There are tons of reasons why you should be using social media marketing ranging from customer engagement to ROI. Our favorite reason is that more than a quarter of overall website traffic is driven by social media. So why are you still ignoring it?
4. You post sporadically.
Going to the gym for most of January and a couple of times in March isn’t going to do much for your fitness and erratic social media isn’t going to do much for your marketing. Consistency is the key, even more so than quantity. If all you can manage is once a week, then do that consistently. At least you won’t look like you went out of business.
3. You hired someone who doesn’t know you – and doesn’t care to learn about you—to do your social media.
Whether you’re using a service or you assigned a staffer, they need to be your face on Facebook. Even if the youngsters have a better handle on the technology, they may not be experienced enough to know your target market or how to speak with your voice. Replicating you exactly isn’t the goal, but your social media needs to reflect your corporate culture and appeal to your company’s audience.
2. You never analyze your social media and web statistics.
Do more people go to your website from Twitter or from Facebook? Should you bother posting on weekends? What percentage of your audience uses mobile devices? The game strategy changes when you know more about the players and the condition of the field.
1. You hired a great social media manager but don’t hold up your end of the partnership.
The important part of social media marketing is the social rather than the marketing. This isn’t the place for hard-sell advertisements. It’s more like a cocktail party where you share interesting and personal stories so people will know you and like you.
For a business, interesting and personal stories include an employee’s birthday, the not-for-profit you sponsored or the bat that got in through the vent – all great social content that can’t be written about if you don’t tell your social media manager. A brief call on a regular basis is all it takes to get your business’s news in the hands of your content writer so it can be shared on social media.
One advantage of social media marketing is that there are many levels where you can enter and you can always improve from where you are now. But you can’t just ignore it. We support our clients’ websites with social media and have several service options available. Give us a call to see what we can do for you. You know we’re always happy to help!
Kate Gingold
I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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