Sit back and relax, you need not worry about it that much because you're not alone in this struggle - there are more people like you. When I say this, trust me 5 out of 10 social media marketers, really find it hard to make the world of social media work in their favor. And why not? It's high time that they should stop acting like a kid in a toy store. "I want this, this and this, I want everything!"
I recently read somewhere that most of the social media marketers actually don't know what they are doing. They just follow what others are doing. Sad! There are over 1.5 billion users embracing social media across various platforms and in case you're not doing things the right way you are going to be left behind.
Here is a list of 10 social media marketing don'ts that every social media marketer should know.
Happy reading!
1. DON'T start without an objective -This is the most basic and the most valuable advice that any social media expert would give you. Always set a goal for yourself and work towards achieving it.
2. DON'T forget your audience - Having set a goal for yourself, now it's time for you to know your audience. Do some research, be aware of their likes and dislikes, their needs, etc., and once you know these things only then you can start working on your social media strategy and taking the road ahead.
3. DON'T jump on every social network - Choose only three to four social networks that you think would help you best in reaching out to your customers/clients and focus on them.
What most companies do wrong is that they jump on every social network, without giving it a thought that how would they manage them and in most cases, after sometime they get inactive on many of those networks, which is a wrong practice.
4. DON'T complicate things - Share content that's easy for your followers to understand. Always remember that your followers are not sitting with a dictionary or Googling every thing that you are writing.
They might be bored working for hours and are just looking for some infotainment and a post filled with complex jargon might tick them off and you might loose a follower. So keep everything simple.
5. DON'T Spam - Being active in the social media-sphere is good but being over active is bad. Do not spam your followers with updates.
What most companies do is that they keep on sharing and posting content on their social networks within an hour gap or even less. What happens here is that if a follower log-ins in the evening or late at night, his news feed would be flooded with your updates (useful or not, that's for him to decide), this might irritate him and force them to unfollow you. Remember, it's easier to lose followers than to gain them back.
6. DON'T take social media for granted - Social media is a free world but it requires both time and money. What most social media marketers do is that they don't manage their time properly (as we have already mentioned in point 3 that you need to choose a few options and focus on them). A single day of inactiveness on any of your networks, might cost you a lot.
Also remember, avoid repetition. In case you run out of content to share across your social networks, take out time and come out with something interesting instead of re-sharing the same old content all over again.
7. DON'T talk about yourself - Talking up yourself is good but doing that on a regular basis is bad. Everyone hates the person who talks about himself and the same goes for brands. Your 'about us' page is enough to inform the people about what you do, you need not talk about yourself everyday on your page.
Also remember, sometimes it's good to listen to people rather than pushing them to your website or blog.
8. DON'T be unwelcoming - Welcome all sort of criticism or queries on your page and always have a good answer for that.
Whenever a new visitor checks out page your page, he would see two things - your updates and the posts/comments by others on your page. Imagine you have 5-6 questions or queries/comments unanswered, what sort of an impression would that leave on him (or do the opposite, keep yourself in his shoes).
And moreover, what's the point of using these platforms when you're not being social. So always respond.
9. DON'T forget that you're a brand not a game show - Brands that promote themselves through regular contests and giveaways attract a lot of people but for sometime that is short-term engagement and they might even unfollow you after the contest or the giveaway is over. In case you're looking for long-term engagement you need to avoid hosting contests and giveaways on regular basis. What you can do here is that you can host contests on special occasions like Mother's Day or Christmas.
10. DON'T stop experimenting - The social media-sphere never stays the same, it keeps on changing from time to time and so do the people using it. What your followers like today, they might not like it tomorrow. So keep on doing new things, try this, try that and see how your follows react to it. Surprise them!
Well, this is not the end of the list but the most basic DON'Ts that every social media marketer should avoid. Just keep them in your mind and do your thing.
Have something to add on or any question? Leave us your comment below.
Stay tuned for more social media tips from E-junkie.
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