Having a consistent presence on social media is a must for businesses of all sizes. So you’ve heard, but the fruit hasn’t been very sweet. It’s possible that your efforts are half-baked or you are making a common social media marketing mistake without realizing it. It’s also possible that you are approaching social media marketing from a wrong angle because it is not about advertising. Instead, it is a lot about relationship marketing. The reality is that stats and industry research don’t lie.
71% of the folks who experience good social media service from a business tend to recommend it to others. So, that’s digital word-of-mouth at its best. If you do not see any of the results, it is time you learn about common small business social media mistakes that you may be making.
Let’s dive into these:
1. Not separating business account from a personal account
Only 37% of the small businesses are using a business social media account according to the WASP Barcode Technologies’ State of Small Business Report. This means that 63% of the businesses are using their personal account as their venture’s social media page.
This invites several issues. Firstly, it makes you look unprofessional. Secondly, it doesn’t make sense to share several personal pictures on your business account. A few pictures sometimes on your business page to give a behind-the-scenes look are fine though. Lastly, you give your opinions of all sorts including the political ones on your personal/business profile. This can turn off lots of potential customers.
2. Over-marketing
What happens when you sit in the company of a friend who talks about herself only? You get bored, and you eventually stop talking – sour relationship, right? It’s pretty much the same with social media. If you keep marketing your services throughout the day, you are bound to repel prospects. Unless you have a new announcement or new product, limit your posts. You should only be providing content that relates to your field and is valuable for your followers.
3. Under- or over-posting
Social media is about consistency and engagement. These are the key ingredients for developing a targeted audience for your small business. So, you need to post daily or throughout the weekdays. If you find it difficult to cope up with your workload, consider automating your social media posts.
On the flip side, don’t over-post as it gives off spammy vibes. Try to make between 2-5 posts per day depending on the social media platform. Your goal should be to engage rather than just have a stream of updates coming out.
4. Posting the same message across all social channels
Each social media network has a different audience and unique post requirements. So, if you are posting the same message on all your social profiles, then you are doing it wrong. In fact, it tells your audience that you are merely posting updates for the sake of posting them. Social Media Marketing, therefore, requires a lot more work than you may think. Put simply, the same message you posted on Twitter shouldn’t be posted on your Facebook profile and so on.
5. All taking and no giving
Social media is a two-way communication channel, so you need to make the most of it. If you’re only advertising your products, you are missing on building relationships with your prospects and customers.
So, don’t only share what you’ve written or what is on your business blog. Instead, follow others and share their posts. Also, interact with your customers. Make a point about responding to their comments and mentions.
6. Spreading yourself too thin
While it is important to leverage the potential of each social media network, you don’t have to spread yourself too thin. Don’t attempt to maintain a presence on each network. You may succeed in showing up, but you won’t be able to do much in terms of actually being there. This decreases your engagement.
7. Excessive automation
Social media automation can be helpful but not in excess. A surplus of automation is poisonous for your social media. Your audience can quickly pick up the post frequency and tell that you’re automating your post instead of being present yourself. Eventually, your audience will stop engaging with you, which spoils the very purpose of social media for your small business.
8. Not responding to customers on social media
When your customers send a query to you on social media, they expect a response. In fact, a quick one. 85% of consumers expect an answer on Facebook within six hours. Moreover, 64% of consumers on Twitter anticipate a response within an hour. Not responding to your customer’s queries leaves a poor impression on them. This isn’t something you’d want for your small business. This is because people who have a good experience recommend your business to others.
9. Not offering any special deals
A survey by Marketing Sherpa learned that 56% of the customers connected with a business to be able to avail regular promotions and coupons. Hence, if you’re not offering special deals, coupon codes and, promotions for your social audience, then this is another social media marketing mistake.
10. Not diversifying the content shared
Your social media profile needs to show personality and diversity. Posting the same thing all the time will lower your engagement. So mix up the content that you share to add some diversity to it. Share your blog posts, videos, photos, and articles. Link to other external content, which is relevant to your audience’s interests. Sharing your followers’ content can also help you engage with them better.
11. Missing on creativity
Over 50 million small businesses have Facebook pages. That’s a lot. So how do you cut through the noise and stand out from the crowd? There is one solution – creativity. A bland social media profile for your venture wouldn’t draw anyone. But a unique voice and creativity will.
Plan a social media strategy for your business that revolves around a specific business voice. Get creative. Seek help from tools such as Canva to design visually stunning posts for your social channels.
Concluding Thoughts
All in all, the key to social media success for a small business is to maintain a unique voice and be consistent. Plan out a creative stream of content that varies as per the social network, and engage to get ahead of your competitors.
Author Bio
Audrey Throne is the mother of a 3-year old baby and a professional blogger by choice. Throne is passionate about lifestyle, business, automotive, technology and management and blogs frequently on these topics. Find her on Twitter: @audrey_throne.
