10 things you need to STOP doing with your Social Media

There are 3.81 BILLION people in 2021 using social media and this is growing around 9% each year. Nearly 8 in 10 of us use it every day to interact, receive information and influence purchasing decisions.

For businesses, it is an incredibly powerful tool which is why it forms an important part of their marketing strategy.  Much of your social media strategy can be delivered organically for free and where you want to get maximum exposure and return on investment through advertisement spend, it can qualify your business with great leads and conversion.

In this blog we look at 10 things you need to stop doing with your social media. If used the right way, social media is the perfect tool to attract new customers, engage with customer feedback and drive customer loyalty.  It can develop your brand whilst reducing some of the heavier marketing costs by complementing your digital strategies.

1) Stop pushing out quantity over quality

We have all been a little guilty of doing this over the years. The old adage of ‘the more we post the more audiences see it’ often sticks in our heads like a thumping migraine after a Saturday night out.  Not necessarily true to point.

You want people to engage with your brand, not just see it and move on or, as in some cases, because of the algorithms, never see it at all.  If audiences interact with your brand you will have more chance of them remembering who you are bringing you one step closer to you goal of converting them into customers.  Quality content builds trust and a following. FACT

2) STOP Writing Posting Repeating

A common mistake many people make on social media is posting the same content on every social platform at the same time and on the same day. There are instances where you can get away with it for example, announcing a change to office opening hours but you have to box clever with social media platforms.  You absolutely need to understand every different social platform and post content that is relevant to their platform and users.  The capabilities of these platforms are everchanging and we are seeing more interactive use through live streaming and videos.  You have to create content that is relevant for each channel and try and start conversations with your followers.

3) STOP posting without a strategy

‘Ah that is going to look great on social media’ *insert excited emojis*.

This will look AMAZING on our social media so we go ahead and post it in the hope our audiences will love it and often they do. Then a week goes by and suddenly we get a startling reminder that we haven’t posted anything for a week!  As businesses who use social media, we have to remember 3 key rules; be active, consistent and engaged all the time and not just when we make the time.  The minute we take the foot off the pedal and let things slip… the less our content and brand will appear on user’s social media newsfeeds. Being active on social media helps drive traffic to your website and increase levels of conversion.  A well-planned social media strategy with a content schedule will really help keep you on track and focused on the tasks in hand.  If you are unsure how to create one, our social media experts can help you write a strategy in tune to your brand and audience. Remember our key tip; it can only be a success if you implement it!

4) STOP being cluttered with your content

Digital millennials have information at their fingertips.  More importantly they want information quickly.  As browsers, we previously spent 12 seconds on a website before deciding to stay or leave and this has now reduced to 8 seconds in the space of only a few years.  Social audiences are time sensitive too.  They are jumping around from platform to platform, news site to eCommerce site and they have no time to browse every bit of detail. With advertising messages and retargeted marketing everywhere, the users must make quick decisions.  What content and messages will resonate with your audiences? If you are writing essay upon essay, we hate to break it to you but this isn’t working.  Compelling content with eye catching headlines or interactive content that sparks conversation is what you need to be aiming for.  Yes, by all means add context but make sure you analyse the reach of your posts to see which ones are most effective and discover what style works for you.  You will likely find that it will be a mix of content from images to videos but you will quickly identify your own tone quickly if you plan creatively.

5) STOP remaining silent

Hello, is anyone there?

It is 2021 and let’s be clear about one thing; customers hate to be ignored. They always have in fact.  One of the biggest reported irritants for social media users is when they reach out to social platforms like Twitter with feedback and are ignored. Twitter is often used by businesses for customer service and it’s also a powerful tool for users too.

If you operate a messenger service and don’t receive a reply, it is infuriating. Another point to note is the time in which users expect a reply which is almost immediate.  Our top tip is to make sure you have automated replies on where you can.  You can install functionalities such as Many Chat onto your messenger service to fully capture clients queries before you go back to them.  Some of these integrated messenger services are designed to draw out enough information so you can more fully understand their query and reduce a back and forth dialogue and consequent delays.

We encourage you to make ensure you have notifications on your phone if you are out and about and if you don’t have an answer or solution for a customer’s query there and then, be honest and let them know you will get back to them.

Another hot top is always to respond to reviews, no matter how constructive they are.  We all want great reviews but if you are given any constructive feedback use it as an opportunity to communicate what action has been taken as a result of their feedback and demonstrate your professionalism to build trust with your audiences.

6) Stop the giveaways!

If you give away competitions and freebies they become instant loyal customers right? Wrong.

Some might actually become customers but there is no guarantee.

Your ideal customers are the ones that engage in your brand consistently enough that they will refer your services on if they were ever asked to recommend you.

‘Liking’, ‘sharing’ and ‘commenting’ might get you more likes on the post and indeed your social media channel but it doesn’t necessarily get you business.  It’s unsustainable too. The perception that by regularly offering competitions followers will continue to follow you may be true but there’s a strong chance they won’t make any commitment to buy from you. Competitions can be great but ultimately there has to be some form of call to action you want the audiences to make, to interact with your brand. Think about your call to action in terms of linking your other marketing strategies together.  Can you pull together an email marketing list off the back of your social media campaign?

 7) STOP hiding your personality

We buy from people we trust.  It really is that simple and despite rapidly changing technologies, this has remained true and will stay true. Social media provides your business and brand with a platform to remain active.  Your content draws in an audience to engage.  If you repeatedly push out the same flat content, you will reduce your potential to reach new audiences.

Do not be afraid to show the people behind the business. If you are celebrating a key milestone in the business or if someone has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, shout about it.   It demonstrates to your audiences that behind all the posts and promotions are the people.

In our business, we regularly communicate via email and so we know that when our audiences see staff via our social media, it provides them reassurance that they aren’t speaking to robots quietly working on their digital marketing, we are people and we do exciting things outside the online world!

One tip we want to make sure you remember is to avoid any chat that might put you in the hot seat for negative reasons.  Foul or ‘banterous’ language is 100% a no! It’s controversial but for all the wrong reasons.

Avoid getting into a public debate and try to take any heated customer feedback off the chat by advising that you will privately message them.  Oh and please…. No politics or open opinions on religion or controversial news. We have seen so many businesses make their opinions known on a public platform and end in a PR disaster.  We all have opinions but some things are best left for private conversations.

8) STOP ignoring content delivery

Photos are great.

Memes are hilarious

Polls are insightful.

Live stories are interactive.

Videos are engaging.

They all work and should all be used in the right context.

When delivering your content calendar make sure you consider what works for your audiences and measure the insights within each platform and post.

Sometimes videos are known to engage 3x as much as a simple photo. If it entertains and informs the audiences, then a video might be the right medium to achieve this result. So many of us are still not using videos as part of our marketing strategy to interact with audiences and in a world where we want to read less and press a button and watch more, we need to start changing our mindset and fine tuning our strategy.

9) STOP ignoring insights and analytics

Data.  In our agency we live and breathe data but we understand that not everyone does. Digital marketing has provided us with so much in the way of measuring results in a way that more offline traditional marketing techniques never could.  More importantly, it gives us the chance to talk directly to our customers.

Data helps you understand your audience more and identify what social media platform works best for your business and brand. They don’t all work perfectly for you and so you need to the data to understand and make an informed decision about where your time and money is best spent. Aside from creating a better strategy and content that compliments your brand, you can also monitor your competitors.

By choosing to ignore or neglect the insights data you get from each platform, you are missing some great opportunities to see what is working for you on your social media but more importantly what is not. You can also micro-target audiences if you want to look at paid campaigns and advertising which will create quality leads and increase your chances of conversion.

We obsess over numbers but are we really looking at the right numbers? Instead of the number of likes our social platforms receive, what we should be doing is looking deeper into impressions, click through rates and shares.  You could have 10,000 followers but if they are not engaging with you on social media, it is going to provide you the same results as if you have 1000 followers.

Remember the impact your strategy is having on people is powerful when insights and analytics are being used.

10) STOP leaving uncomplete profiles

Your social media profile helps you be found. It is therefore natural that our last tip will be to ensure you get the basics right. It might sound so simple yet so many people are guilty of not successfully completing their profiles and optimising their social media accounts for organic search engine optimisation. How credible is your business to your target audience? Are you reviewing your information and undertaking a full audit of your social media accounts? Do you have a social media feed that pulls through to your website?

We recommend you complete every field and where possible link back to your other social media account profiles.  If you are utilising offline marketing techniques make sure you put your icons or profiles on business cards and flyers and connect the marketing dots.

Social media is one part of your larger marketing strategy so make sure you complete all other communications in your profile including website URL and full contact details.  Changing your background and cover image to reflect your current campaigns should form part of your profile checks.

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Internet Creation are a creative digital marketing agency with a team of marketing consultants providing expert advice and support in social media management. From creating social media strategies to managing social media accounts on behalf of clients, we are on hand to help you get the best out of your social media presence. Get in touch with us here to find out more.