Top things to avoid when using social media for your business

If your business or organisation is just starting out with social media marketing, it can be quite daunting to know where to start – there’s so much to do! We have put together this handy guide of things that you should avoid, to make sure that you don’t commit any of the most common social media errors.
Having no strategy or plan in place
It is advisable to have a presence on social media, but you should avoid posting just for the sake of it. Having a social media strategy in place ensures that you are working towards set objectives and goals. This will help you get the best results out of your efforts.
Not measuring and monitoring
With your strategy in place, you’ll have a benchmark to measure your social media activity against. Make sure you are monitoring the right metrics in relation to your goals, such as conversions if your goal is to increase sales, or engagement if your goal is to increase brand awareness. Tracking these metrics will make sure that you get maximum ROI, and will enable you to tweak your campaign if you are not quite reaching your goals. At KC Communications, we use specialist tracking software to measure the effectiveness of our clients’ campaigns.
Having no social media policy
If you have more than one person managing your business account, or if you have employees that are brand ambassadors and linked to your social media platforms, it is imperative that you have a social media policy in place. This policy will make sure that your brand messaging remains consistent, and that your employees know how to act on social media when representing you. Also, make sure you only give the right people access, that will post according to the policy and who you can trust to use the correct content.
Being too “salesy”
Social media is a great platform to advertise your business, but if every post is promotional about your product or service you will lose followers and engagement. Mix up your content with engaging posts such as blogs, behind the scenes activity, events at your organisation etc. Think about things that people need to know, so you are doing the problem solving for them. Or consider posts to invite followers to share their own opinions on things – this is likely to increase your engagement more than just sales led posts.
Not enough interaction
Social media has its name for a reason – it is a social platform. Make sure you aren’t just sending posts out, try to interact with your audience and others in the industry by liking, commenting and sharing content. Make sure you reply to mentions if possible and time permits.
Not responding to negative feedback
Every business is scared of negative feedback, but really it is just a customer or client looking to be taking seriously and for their complaint to be put right. Make sure you respond to any negative feedback politely and professionally and try to rectify the situation. Customers that have had a bad experience rectified are more likely to be loyal customers! If there is a situation where you are receiving a lot of negative feedback over a certain situation or event, check the KC Communications blog on managing a PR crisis here.
Buying fake followers and engagement
It can be tempting when you are just starting out on your social media journey to be offered the chance to increase your followers and likes dramatically by purchasing them. However, most social media platform algorithms can detect this behaviour and will de-rank your posts and visibility. Fake followers are also never going to purchase your product or service and therefore are ultimately pointless.
Not being PC
In this day and age, it is difficult to navigate the realms of what is politically correct and what it not, but you should endeavour to remain neutral in controversial subjects (where possible) and not engage in inflammatory conversations.
Using poor content
Don’t fall prey to being a hashtag abuser! Make sure that the hashtags you use are relevant and are not overused. Don’t jump on a hashtag bandwagon just because it is trending. Also make sure that all your content is proof-read before posting. There is nothing more unprofessional that the wrong us of “their”, “they’re” and “there” or a typo in a brand’s social media post.
If you feel that you are struggling with your business’ social media platforms, get in touch with us today on 01484 637 980 or email hello@kccomms.co.uk to find out how we can help.