If you have little experience with social media management then it is possible that you will make one or more of the many common mistakes that happen a lot. There are many social media mistakes that you can make and in this article we will discuss the ones that have the most negative consequences.
Not having a Plan
If you fail to plan you plan to fail. This is one of the truest quotes in the history of mankind. Does it apply to social media? You had better believe that it does. Do not just sign up for all of the popular social media networks and just post anything. Think about how you will connect with the community you are going to develop.
Your plan needs to identify which social media platforms are right for you. The chances are that they will not all be right and if you are on every major platform then management of content and engagement becomes a real headache. Develop a content strategy for social and stick to your schedule.
Be Careful of Automation
Nobody is expecting you to site in front of your computer all day and watch every social platform. The automation tools available work very well but you do not want to rely on them too much. Why? Because you can end up looking like a robot and nobody likes a robot on social media. If anyone actually responds to your automated shares they will soon give up on you if you do not respond back.
Just Sharing your own Content
We have all met people that do nothing except talk about themselves all day. After a while it really grates doesn’t it and you will do everything that you can to avoid this person. So why do so many people make this mistake on social media?
When you post just your own stuff and just tell people how great your business is you will turn away people in droves. You will be “unfollowed” by a lot of people and the whole experience will be a waste of time and effort.
Treat your community right and they will treat you right. Get them talking and share information of value to them. If you like something that someone else has posted then share that with your followers.
Don’t be Inconsistent with your Social Media activity
When you first get involved with social media you are likely to be enthusiastic and want to post tons of content on the first day. But how about the rest of the week? One day you upload a great video to Facebook and it achieves a very high level of engagement. There are many comments from your followers and you are very happy.
Then you disappear for a few days and questions remain unanswered. Do you think that people will be happy with this? The certainly won’t and if they get the impression that you are inconsistent they will stop looking out for your content.
Do you have any Personality?
Social media is “social” and people want to see stuff that will make them think, make them laugh, improve their lives and so on. It is very important that you are personable on the social networks. You need to make sure that you are sincere, friendly and approachable about anything.
Listen when People speak
Social media platforms are a great place to get feedback. Sometimes it is not always going to be a love-in and there will be users that are disappointed for whatever reason. It is easy to respond to compliments and you must do that by thanking people and including their username.
Handling negative comments needs a different approach. First thank the person for bringing the issue to your attention and then tell them you will look into it (if that is appropriate). If you make this kind of commitment be sure to investigate, and get back to the user as soon as possible. Never ignore feedback.
Don’t be a Spammer
People hate spam on social media so do not send out one promotional post after another that is full of links to your offers. Your followers, who will quickly become ex-followers, will hate you. Build relationships with people first and never bombard your network with spam.
