Top Mistakes Businesses Make on Social Media

You know the basics: don’t send a photo through social media apps that you’d be embarrassed if your grandma saw, don’t like your ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend’s photo, and always post selfies with the best lighting. But we’re talking social media on a business level. Outside of common knowledge—don’t post anything out of the ordinary without your boss’ approval—what are some other common mistakes businesses are making on social media?

Forgetting About It

All too often, businesses either don’t have a social media presence, or they’ve forgotten about their accounts. Don’t be the kind of business that excitedly gets an Instagram or Facebook account, posts steadily for a month or two, and then forgets about it. Stay consistent; if you can only post once per week, fine. Consistency is better than posting sporadically every few weeks, or worse, failing to post for months, then coming out of the woodwork and begging people to attend your latest event.

Relevancy

You know we love cat memes just as much as the rest of the Internet, but your content should be relevant to your business. Yes, mixing in fun posts is important, but above all, your content should be relevant to your business. It should also draw attention back to your blog or website. Posts are not ads for your promotions, products, or events. Keep this type of post to 20% of your content.

Only Talking About your Business

If you’re only talking about your business, you risk people losing interest quickly. As mentioned above, every post shouldn’t be an ad for your business. Why not talk about trends in your industry? Why not mention innovators in your field? Talking about what’s going on in your field will show your expertise.

Engagement

You need to engage with your customers and regularly provide updates. Keep your information up-to-date, and take the time to interact with your audience. Followers will be upset if they’re commenting on your posts and not receiving a like or comment back—especially if they’re asking an important question.

Too Much Automation

Automating certain tasks is great, but it can become a problem. For instance, if you have automatic responses turned on for Facebook Messenger but then never go in and manually respond to individuals, you’re asking for trouble. If you use scheduling software to post all your blogs and status updates, be sure you schedule them to post at different times and customize each post to the platform. If you’re simply using the exact same post across every platform, those who are following you will notice. And because each platform is different, the text that shows up on Twitter when you’re doing a shout out will show up differently on Facebook, and it won’t look correct.

Utilizing the Wrong Platforms

You should go where your customers and audience go. If your audience is mostly comprised of millennials, sticking solely to Facebook is the wrong move. Get an Instagram account. Start posting fun, off-the-cuff photos, go live and chat with your audience, and start taking boomerangs of everything. If your customers are around retirement age, Facebook is the way to go. Pick a platform or two and master it.

Branding

This one is simple; even if you utilize different social media platforms, they should be uniform. If you use a purple color scheme on Twitter, don’t use orange on Facebook. Your branding should be clear and recognizable from platform to platform.

If you find you’re still struggling, maybe a social media seminar is right for you. Book a class with BadCat Digital here: http://badcatdigital.com/services/classes/