Social media is inescapable. Most people have a social media account whether it’s Facebook, Tweeter or YouTube. Facebook alone has approximately 1.11 billion users around the world. Businesses can no longer ignore social media if they want to stay competitive. But the problem is that some companies just go to the social media route without really having a concrete plan. Below is a list of common mistakes companies commit when riding the social media bandwagon.
1. Blurry Goals
First things first, what really is your goal in putting up a social media account? I hope it’s not only because “it’s the cool thing to do”. Having a clear goal or purpose in mind is the most critical part to succeed in social media. Did you create an account for your customers to have timely information about your products and services or do you just mainly want to promote your website or brand? It can also be a combination of these two. Establishing your goals is the rightfully the first step.
2. Lukewarm Commitment
Now that you have decided on going with the social media trend, you need to ask yourself this question, am I really committed to it? Some companies after seeing the fresh look of their website in Facebook become so excited. But after a few months the excitement dies down. Your commitment in your social media promotion will have an impact on the success of your campaign and a bigger impact on the response of your customers. A nice idea will get you started but commitment will make you stay there.
3. Inappropriate Attitudes Toward Customers
“A happy customer tells one friend, but one unhappy customer tells everybody.” Customers are the most critical part of your business, without them your company will not be successful. They are the reason why you have put up these social media accounts in the first place. Treat each customer online as you would treat them personally. One challenge with maintaining a social media account for the company is that customers who are not getting support will complain on your page. The last thing you would want to do in your social media account is to lose a customer. Make sure that you address customer complaints through other channels efficiently first before engaging in a social media campaign or it could backfire.
4. Mixed Branding
How you setup the social media account will greatly affect your customers’ responses. The images, the logos, the words and articles on your account should be consistent on every part of your site and consistent as well in all your social media accounts. Conflicting branding will leave your customers confused as to what type of company are they looking at. Do you want to sell your company as hip, decent, or clean? Setting the target audience might help you figure out the branding of your website. This should also be aligned to the company’s vision mission and goals.
5. Careless Posts
Post a complete profile about yourself. Social media is the lighter side of the company. This doesn’t mean you can post just about anything. Make the posts relevant to your customers. Invite conversation. Remember that posts should benefit the customers even in little ways. Inspirational quotes could be effective. A video of your employees doing the “Harlem Shake” while customer complaints are not being addressed, on the other hand, will only make your customers irate.
Social media marketing is quite new and most marketers are not sure how to start. The tips above should be able to help you assess and plan carefully. Social media is not for selling. It’s for communicating with your customers and other people who may be interested in becoming customers in the future.
