These days there is no getting away from it, social media is everywhere and it is most definitely here to stay. Having set up your shiny new Facebook account, sent your first cautious tweet or even added some filter-free Insta posts, you may feel like you are already a whizz at digital marketing. But, in reality, social media can be a fickle and unforgiving beast, and the medium should be treated with respect at all times.
Perhaps the biggest issue with social media is the immediate nature of its interaction. Whilst on the one hand this can be an awesome way to engage with customers in real time, it can also be a huge problem if you accidentally post the wrong thing or misjudge your appeal.
It can also be overused to the point of saturation causing your followers to switch off and unfollow, or underused so desperately your customers will be wondering if you are actually still in business.
In order to get it right – from your very first post through to your next few hundred – our quick guide to how to win at social media will show you the way:
Do:
- Post regular updates that are relevant, engaging and true to the voice of your brand
- Connect with your colleagues and share you posts with them
- Control your privacy and make your posts easy to share
- Take care when posting pictures of others and be sure to always ask permission first
- Disconnect from negativity and do not engage in troll warfare
- Share your successes and be proud of your achievements
- Be consistent with your business profile and maintain a uniform look, feel and tone with your posts
- Be unique and engaging when sharing
- Forge new relationships by responding to customer comments and feedback as they happen
- Prioritise your networks and focus targeted advertising on specific, pre-determined audiences first
- Post entertaining and informative pieces to keep your audience interested
- Use the right content on the right network and understand what works best for your followers
- Be visually appealing and different from the competition
- Be generous, give credit and always think before tagging
- Try new ideas, have fun and find new ways to make your audience smile
- Share posts to boost organic promotion and to help increase your reach
Don’t:
- Don’t share posts without proof reading the content first
- Don’t spam your followers with too many irrelevant posts
- Don’t over-share your content
- DON’T CREATE POSTS IN CAPITALS – there is literally no need for this, ever!
- Don’t excessively use hashtags on Twitter and Instagram and don’t use them on Facebook
- Don’t share the same message or repeat posts
- Don’t excessively depend on Auto DM’s
- Don’t automate same content across all networks – vary it to increase interest
- Don’t buy fake followers
- Don’t repost without first checking the veracity of the sources
- Don’t dedicate all your time to social networks – these are not the only part of your marketing strategy
Make social media work for you
Get it right and you could really bring your marketing A game to the mix with a well-prepared, carefully crafted social media marketing campaign. Get it wrong, and you could lose credibility and customers in a flash.
Hire a marketing and social media professional to ensure that you maximise every channel available to you, to help grow your brand exponentially.
