7 Common Mistakes Companies Make With Their Social Media Strategy

social media strategy

If there are still people who think that social media marketing does not work, then that has to be from some naivety or ignorance level. This is a very untrue statement. If your social media marketing does not work for you as a brand, then that means that there are many things that you are not doing right. There are several companies that have failed in successfully incorporating their social media strategy as a part of their marketing strategy. In the same way, companies have made waves and won over many new customers and increased their revenue generation with social media marketing. The difference between these two companies is how they apply their social media strategy; what they do, or don’t.

There is no doubt that both small and large businesses see social media as a means to promote their brand. It gives them brand exposure, awareness, and visibility. This can also lead to an increase in leads generation and revenue. But the common mistakes that brands tend to make while executing their social media often lead to failure. These mistakes are, often, the difference between a successful marketing strategy and a failed or unsuccessful one.

This means that you have to pay attention to your social media marketing steps and avoid the common mistakes that can hinder you. In case you are wondering what these mistakes are, here are seven errors listed that companies make with their social media strategy.    

Not using social media at all

The first mistake you will make as a brand is not to use social media as a part of your marketing strategy. Irrespective of your industry or demography, social media will always be a reliable marketing tool for you. You are wrong if you think otherwise.

One misconception that people have is that social media is not for everyone but the tech-savvy and the teenagers or younger generation. This is obviously untrue. Thankfully, there are studies to prove this. One research shows that the age demographic that is growing the most on Facebook is age 45-54, while the fastest-growing one twitter demographic is age 55-64. With this, all other age demographics are also well represented.

Social media is already a part of every social stratum. You need to find a social media strategy that works for you and stick to it. But dismissing social media or labeling it ineffective is self-deceit.

Having a social media-only objectives

Some organizations just jump into using different social media platforms without having an apparent strategy. They take this platform as an avenue to connect with their customers. When they jump on these platforms, they tend to base their performance on some metrics such as several followers, comments, and likes on these platforms. While these metrics are essential on their own, they can also be vain in their effects. This is because you do not have positive evidence that these metrics actually contribute positively to the growth of your business on social media.

It is difficult for you to calculate your ROI for your social media actions if you do not connect your use of this platform to your business’s goals and objectives. In the end, you will be using this platform, but you will not be getting any values from it for your business. You will just be doing it because others are doing it.

For every social media platform that your brand uses, you should have different befitting strategies to measure up your key performance indicators. This ensures that you can tie them back to your sales and marketing objectives. This might involve content downloads, newsletter sign-ups, and referral traffic on your website.

Not engaging in social media conversations

The point in social media is for people to interact with your content and posts. If you do not have people to engage your content, then those updates are practically useless. You must ensure that you create your content and posts to attract or lead to conversations with and among your audience. If your content does not attract responses like this, you need to recheck your social media strategy.

When people engage with your posts, especially with a comment, make sure that you reply. This can lead to conversations that can build a stronger bond. It does not matter if they posted a positive or negative comment, answering them allows you to speak directly with them. Also, ensure that you are personable and friendly with your customers. That’s what makes social media. Try not to limit your social media interaction to marketing campaigns or for the marketing departments alone. Ensure that other departments, such as billing, customer service, sales, and production, are also involved in your social media campaign.   

Not measuring the right KPIs

Measurement of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is essential for any campaign. That is how you know if your campaign or strategy is working or if you are getting the desired result. This is where many marketers tend to miss it. They tend to leave valuable things and focus on vanity metrics. They become happy by merely measuring the number of twitter followers or Facebook fans and acknowledge this as growth. But in reality, it is not.

Social media is like every other channel when it comes to marketing. So, your focus should not be on followership or even on engagements as vital as they are. You should measure your marketing effort with the impact on your business in terms of sales, traffic, and revenue, not social media followers.

Treating different social media platforms in the same way

Since social media platforms are different, you can be sure that their users are also different. The traditions on the various platforms are not the same, so it is only appropriate to address the audience as the culture of the different social media platform dictates. If you are not consistent in your approach to the audience or treat them inappropriately, your content and marketing will be ineffective.

Imagine trying to sell an item while speaking German to a French man; you obviously will not win him over. You will leave him only more confused about the whole thing. However, things would have likely turned out well if you spoke to him in French. Many marketers make this language mistake. You definitely can’t sell to a Facebook audience while speaking the twitter language.

All social platforms have their language, customs, type of content, and audience.

Over-reliance on automation

One mistake that brands make is over-relying on automation for posting on social media. One primary reason for social media is for people to interact with other people, family, friends, and strangers, both far and near. That craving for human interaction is still there, and people can tell if your post is robotic. The moment they start to feel like the exchanges are not precise or impersonal, they begin to withdraw and distance themselves from your brand.

If you are so wrong with this that they feel like you are spamming them with automatic content that is irrelevant, you lose them.

You need to ensure that there is a human and personal touch to your presence on social media. People can tell the difference, and you are losing them bit by bit. So, make sure that you’re not alienating your audience with your automatic content post. Your focus should be on inspiring and entertaining them with authentic and personalized content.

Connecting instead of networking

If you want to get the desired result, you can’t have followers (no matter how many they are) who are not part of your ideal customers or your target buyer persona. You will obviously not get the results that you desire.

You must try attracting and engaging with peers, prospects, and professionals with a similar view or interest. These people will help you become successful in your marketing campaign. What you need to do is to build and expand your network. This will give you access to other professionals and prospects and will also give your content more exposure.

Your interaction also has to be meaningful. Networking allows you to increase the value of your relationship. So, you should have time when you reach out to people and write personalized content to them. Engage in discussions with them, share, and comment on each other’s content. This is more genuine than just seeking likes from each other.

Make sure that you treat these relationships similarly to people you know in-person. People pay more attention to you when you add value to them.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that social media is an important marketing tool. If well utilized, you will reap massive benefits. However, there is also the possibility of making mistakes in your marketing strategy that can redefine you and make your efforts useless. These are some of the mistakes that you should avoid.

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