Social media marketing is all the rage lately, and with good reason. The potential to reach large networks of potential customers is hard to pass up, especially when such exposure is available almost free of charge.
However, while it may be possible to start up a social media account or two on your lunch break, it can be a little more difficult to conduct a successful social media marketing campaign. In fact, many businesses make mistakes that inadvertently undermine their efforts. Here are some common mistakes to avoid with your social media marketing campaign.
Mistake 1: Failing to Develop a Social Media Marketing Strategy
Social media marketing, like any type of marketing, requires a strategy if it is going to succeed. Unfortunately, many businesses jump into social media without a plan. What needs to go into a social media marketing plan? Here are just a few things to consider:
- An editorial calendar
- A vision and measurable goals
- Metrics to track those goals
- Regular posts and updates
- Selection of relevant and targeted topics
Without a plan, your social media presence becomes less of a marketing effort and more of a personal account. With a plan, your social media presence becomes a powerful marketing influence carefully designed to deliver a profit.
Mistake 2: Self-Focused Posts
No matter how impressed you are with your own business, and we are sure that your business is pretty impressive, your customers don't want to hear about it all the time. Especially on social media.
People come to social media to engage with people, businesses, content, and ideas that they find to be interesting. They do not come to social media to read traditional advertising.
As a result, any advertising that you achieve with your social media marketing campaign needs to come as part of engagement with the social media community. Try commenting on other people's posts, creating content that is relevant and entertaining, responding to people's posts and tweets, and creating a community, not just another advertising platform.
Mistake 3: Measuring Success by Followers
Many businesses assume that the best way to measure the success of your social media marketing campaign is by the number of Followers they have. The bigger that number is, the better they feel that their campaign is going.
The truth, however, is that follower numbers are not the most important metrics. Instead of simply having people following you, you need people engaged with your business. As a result, you want to measure metrics that reflect engagement with your business, like comments, retweets, and more.
Mistake 4: Failing to Tailor for Each Platform
Hopefully, your social media marketing campaign involves multiple platforms, all of which are relevant to your business and your target audiences. What many businesses fail to recognize, however, is that each of these platforms requires a different approach.
For example, Twitter requires a shorter format, while Facebook provides a platform for more in-depth connections. LinkedIn, on the other hand, offers a professional social platform. Understanding how each platform works and how your target audience is using it allows you to more effectively tailor your approach to make the maximum impact possible in each social media channel.
Mistake 5: Choosing too Many Platforms
Social media marketing is an exciting way to promote your business right where your target audiences are active and engaged. However, some businesses get a little bit too carried away and tackle every social media platform they can get their hands on.
The problem is that all of these platforms create quite a bit of work without offering significant benefits. Why? Because your target audiences do not use every social media platform. Instead of embracing every avenue you can find, target the platforms where your target audience are most active. Focusing your efforts on the most relevant social media marketing platforms allows your campaign to be as effective as possible with as little work as possible on your part.
Social media marketing offers a great way to promote your business. However, you need to go about it in the right way. Avoid common social media marketing mistakes by hiring a social media consultant to guide you through the process. We here at Distinct Web Design have the expertise to help you avoid social media marketing mistakes while creating a campaign that benefits your business in meaningful and profitable ways.
