I’m the owner/founder/grand poobah/etc. of a fairly large social media marketing company. So in other words, it’s my job to take a look at what people are doing on SM (or, usually more accurately, NOT doing on it) and then fix things.
So I thought I would come up with my top 3 most common social media marketing mistakes and arrange them in a tidy little list to help people avoid the miscues that I see all too often. Who knows, you may just be able to avoid hiring someone like me if you can fix these yourself!!
1: Not Promoting
Social media marketing is all about promotion, but many people either don’t kwai likes promote their profiles or they just haphazardly say “Like us on Facebook!” now and then. Has that ever been enough to get you to engage with a brand on Facebook? Exactly.
Adding social site/sharing icons to your blog posts and even email signatures can be a big help. Remember, all your social outlets are connected, so that counts blogs, YouTube channels, email campaigns, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and on and on forever!
Anytime you write a new blog post, promote it. Anytime you add a new product, site page, service, etc. – promote it. Post links to your feeds and talk them up a little (don’t just spam your links with no content)! Promoting means hyping, so if you think you’re promoting by just posting links to your blogs every now and then, you’re not really promoting. If you’re adding videos and not posting them on FB, Twitter, etc., you’re not promoting. Get the drift?
2: Incomplete Profiles
I get it, people are busy running their own companies and don’t always have the time to take their profiles from 96% complete to the full 100 – I’m running my own SMM company and can still be too overwhelmed for social media best practices!
Still, you really have to have ALL of your profiles (yes, ALL as in more than Facebook and Twitter!) filled to the brim with good stuff. And not just 4 or 5 words, but actual, personalized descriptions, bios, and all that. Links back to your website and blog are also essential, as is complete contact information.
And finally, don’t forget loading up on images. Your logo should be tailor-fit to each website’s specific specs for dimensions to make sure that it isn’t blurry or skewed. If you can add videos, definitely include any YouTube, Vine, Instagram, etc. videos possible. You want people to think you will devote the time and effort to your presence.
3: Get on More Outlets
Did you know top companies are active on an average of 7 social networking sites? That means ACTIVE, not just ON! Crazy, huh?
So expand to Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram, Vine, LinkedIn, FourSquare, and anywhere you can find that people are actually using, and get active. Just be sure to follow the first two tips once you’re there!
