10 Do’s and Don’ts for Brands That Want to Take Their Business to Social Media
Social media marketing is THE marketing strategy you want to utilize as much as possible when taking your business online. Still, pay attention to the essentials and look out for the mistakes.
If you fail to take social networking seriously, you run the risk of turning something with potential into something that only makes you waste your time and money. Also, without a strategy or a clear style line, you may end up conveying a wrong or negative image of your business, which, instead of providing benefits, is only going to scare your potential customers. For brands considering whether or not to take their business to social media and get a success boost, cover the following essentials first. And keep an eye out for mistakes!
10 things brands need to do in order to take their business to social media successfully:
1. A mobile-friendly website
Much of the traffic that usually comes directly from social networks comes from people who use their mobile phones to connect to social media. To avoid a bad impression from this kind of visitors, you should make sure that you have a mobile-friendly website. You can use Google’s mobile optimization tool to test if your website meets the minimum accessibility requirements.
2. A blog
Social media channels can help you promote yourself, but you still need something extra to tell your own story. The best way to connect with your audience and show that you know what you are talking about is by publishing articles on your blog. You can write about success stories, detailed explanations, news about your sector, usage guides, etc.
3. Social media jargon
It is foolish of brands to take their business to social media unless they know what words like hashtag, retweet, mentions or likes mean. In addition to knowing what all those words mean, you have to be able to use them correctly at the right time, if you do not want to look like someone who is completely out of place.
4. The right target audience
Not all social networks are going to bring you the same benefits. Take your time to study each social media channel calmly and determine if the people who use it are within your target market. You shouldn’t communicate your campaigns the same way to your audience on Facebook and the one on Instagram. Also depending on the type of business you have, some social media channels might work better than others.
5. Editorial calendar
It’s very important to know what you want to publish and have it planned, scheduled and organized. You don’t need to have everything written in advance, but try to come up with topics for your articles a couple of weeks in advance at least. This will save you a lot of time and energy. And your blog will always feel professional and informative since you won’t have to improvise.
6. Social media plan
Identify the goals you want to achieve in social networks. For example, those objectives could be creating a brand image, attracting new potential customers, strengthening the loyalty of your current customers, and so on. Once you have these objectives clear, devote yourself to producing and/or sharing content with those objectives in mind.
7. Social media managing tool
Free tools like Buffer or Hootsuite can help you save a lot of time when you have to manage your social media profiles. The advantage of this type of tool is that you can control most social media profiles from the same platform. You also have the possibility to outsource this task to other companies professional in the said task. Brands that believe are ready to take their business to social media, this is something that has to be covered before any major campaigns.
8. Quality images
Get a good camera, some basic lighting equipment, download a graphic editing program such as GIMP and learn how to make good photographs, both for your website and for your profiles on social media channels. Normally, content with images usually get more shares in social networks compared to those that only involve written text. Also, if you have to show your products to your potential customers, it’s much better to use top quality images.
9. Writing skill for social media
You will have to learn to write so that your content is short and direct. On the Internet in general and on social networks in particular, people are always in a hurry and have little patience. If something is not attention-grabbing right from the start, it will go unnoticed. So, for brands to take their business to social media effectively, they will have to learn a bit of copywriting to be able to provide social media content that resonates with their audience; entertains and informs their followers at the same time. In addition, adding personality and style is more than necessary.
10. Conversation participation
Do not wait passively for people to follow you. Join groups, participate in conversations, follow others and comment on their profiles or on their blogs. Keep in mind that social media channels are means of two-way communication.
Avoid these social media mistakes!
1. You disregard social media
You may think that your business activity should not be on social media. But your consumers want to know who you are and the story behind your business. Apart from that, there is no better ambassador of your brand than yourself. Take advantage of social media in this respect.
2. You use the same strategy for every social media platform
You have to know the tone and language of each social media channel in order to avoid falling into the trap of automating posts. The public uses different social media channels and it is important not to give the same content in every single one of them. This can lead to the loss of interest for your brand. The audience searches for new content in every social media platform and you must adapt your strategy to each of them.
3. You don’t provide feedback for the users
The importance of social media lies in the fact that it is a two-way communication channel between a brand and a client when listening to suggestions and/or complaints. Not answering to these comments dehumanizes your business and makes it seem like you don’t really care about the users’ needs.
4. Improper use of tone and language
Transparency and friendliness are the most valued things on social media. If you think you can use these aspects with the sole purpose of selling your products/services, you’ll be making one of the biggest social media mistakes. Such an attitude will not help you differentiate your business from your competitors.
5. You don’t offer value or interest
The social media strategy you use must always be generous in the sense that it provides useful content to your users. This should make them want to participate in your project.
6. You forget that selling is not everything
The current tendency of the public is to flee from the massive flow of advertising in conventional media. It is one of the reasons why they go to social media. The best way to sell on Facebook or Twitter is to build a strong relationship with your audience.
7. Not selling enough
On a completely different note compared to the previous mistake, you shouldn’t forget what the purpose of your business on social media is either. The strategy on social media should always be with the intention of selling. Social media channels are the tool to get credibility and to convert that into sales.
8. You don’t take advantage of what you know
Small businesses have first-hand knowledge about the products and services they offer. Therefore, you must take advantage of the reach that social media can provide you with. This can help you differentiate your business from the competitors.
9. You don’t perform regular analysis
You have to work with metrics to analyze the results of your campaigns on social media. Ignoring analysis is one of the more serious social media mistakes since without this you can never know what is working and what is not.
10. You rush things
Social media platforms are a great temptation for small businesses, mainly because they are free. But keep in mind that generating a good brand image is a task that requires effort and time.
