Social media is not only a gift to those who want to connect with people in their lives online, but a very useful tool for businesses building their brands. Through various platforms is a large network that can reach millions of people, but there's a right way to do it. Here are things you should avoid in social media marketing.
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1. Not Following a Strategy
You can't just create materials and post them willy-nilly. You need to have a strategy in mind to make sure that your ads reach your target market, or reach new consumers that might be interested in what you can offer. For instance, you might want to promote rainbow-colored clothing when Pride Month is right around the corner.
2. Failing to Research Active Hours
There are a lot of factors to consider when you're posting promotional materials, and doing so during active hours can determine whether your post will get a lot of views or not. A simple search can tell you the right timeframe for posting. In the US, for instance, people are most active around 11:00 AM PST on Wednesday, so time your publishing well.
3. Too Many Ads
At some point, there are ads that are shown too much that people tend to get tired of them. Users are predisposed to hate ads because it interferes with what they want to do like watching videos or reading posts. You have to balance it out by showing your ads just enough to make an impact, but not too much that people would avoid it due to annoyance.
4. Relying Too Much on Paid Ads
Purchasing ads can be crucial to expanding your business and brand, but you also have to pay attention to the organic reach your page has. You may be able to control the amount of ads you send out, but not having an organic reach will show that your brand cannot go past paid boosts. Besides, building reach organically could mean you won't need paid ads eventually.
5. Ignoring Social Media Tools
Since social media companies recognize that business is already being conducted on their sites, a lot of them already have built-in marketing tools to encourage engagement. Take advantage of these tools and do your research on each platform as every one of them has unique methods for advertising.
Read Also: 8 Pros and Cons of Social Media Absence
6. Not Acknowledging Social Media Cultures
In case you haven't noticed, each social media platform has varying cultures, which means that one marketing strategy is not a universal fit for all. Take Instagram, for example. You might fare better having an influencer advertising your brand. Facebook, having multimedia options, allows you to post a photo along with a caption that can elaborate on what you can offer.
7. Brushing Negative Feedback Aside
What your customers think about your brand or your products can make or break your business. If someone has something bad to say, think of it as constructive criticism instead of ignoring it or worse, responding negatively. Take into account what they don't like about your product or services, and try to improve on that for other customers.
8. Lack of Crisis Management
There's a difference between negative feedback and a negative situation. With feedback, you can always assure them that you can do better as long as you will, but a bad situation won't go away until you resolve the underlying issues. If you don't have management measures in place when things go awry, you might not just lost your marketing platform but your business as well.
