Since the advent of social media, businesses have been scrambling to figure out the best way (or ways) to harness the power of sites like Facebook, Twitter, and – going way back – MySpace to the advantage of their brands. Companies have recognized the value of social media for quite some time now and yet there are still some that haven’t quite figured it out; there are those that simply don’t use it the right way.
Businesses make a considerable number of mistakes using social media but some have more damaging potential than others. Here are three common mistakes you want to avoid if you want to successfully utilize social media for your business.
1. Placing too much emphasis on the sale and too little on the customer.
Social media exists for the purpose to communication and relationship-building. It is not organic to marketing. If you plan to use social media to sell your product, you have to do it in a way that is sociable. You can’t lead with a sales pitch and expect new customers to flock to your page and christen it with countless “likes.”
Even if you capture those likes, a like is not a sale. Most people will like your page today and forget about it tomorrow if you don’t have a clear plan in place to provide them with engaging content. Your focus should be on building rapport with your customer; make them feel like they know your brand like they know their friends. Demonstrate that your business shares their interests and is interested in them as individuals, not just customers.
2. Assault with Deadly Content
Sure, you want your social media accounts to produce brand exposure but there is a fine line between telling people about your brand and hitting them over the head with it incessantly. We don’t like it when our friends clutter our news feeds with minutiae and we simply don’t tolerate it from corporate pages. Gimmicks, contests, offers for cool prizes have all been tried with varying degrees of success (and failure) but they are almost never effective in creating long-term relationships with customers.
People want to know that the people or entities with whom they interact on social media actually “get” them. You don’t communicate that by offering an iPad and then leaving it to the customer to forward to 10 of their friends. Marketing your brand is your job – don’t make pack mules out of your social media contacts. People don’t like it when they think they’re being used.
3. Disengaging Content
On the heels of the previous mistake, it only adds insult to injury when you deluge your page with meaningless content. Remember, the idea here is to engage, not to sell. You need to build relationships and establish trust to earn people’s business and that is more true than average in a social media environment.
Invest the time to develop themed posts and story arcs. Don’t have time for all that? Hire a copywriter who can demonstrate experience and results and let them craft content that will zero in on potential customers and keep existing ones on the hook.
The Bottom Line on your Bottom Line
Social media is a powerful tool, but too many businesses misinterpret its purpose by applying marketing principles where social principles should be at the forefront. Be committed to engaging and interacting with the customer and sales will follow.
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