Top 5 Mistakes Businesses Make On Social Media (And How To Avoid Them)

 

Solution: Regularly reviewing your analytics on each platform, paying attention to key metrics like your engagement, reach, click—through-rate, cost-per-click and follower growth help you identify what content is resonating with members of your audience, which areas require improvement and when the best time to post is. Outsourcing your social media, or using third-party tools can help if you don’t have time to do these yourself. 

Mistake: If you don’t have a posting schedule, and do things on a whim or when you have a free minute, it can make your brand look inactive when there’s large gaps between your content. This may result in followers forgetting about your business, or losing interest in future posts. 

 

Solution: Creating a content calendar will help you keep on track with your posting schedule. If you don’t want to log in and post every day, using platforms like Buffer or Hootsuite will let you plan your posts in advance, so they’ll be posted without needing your involvement on the day. You analytics will help you figure out the best time of day to post so you can get the maximum engagement from your audience. 

Mistake: Whilst you can make the mistake of not posting enough, you can also promote your products too much. If all of your post’s focus on selling, your content may begin to be viewed as constant advertising – turning your followers away. 

 

Solution: Create a plan centred around when you post your promotional content, and when you post your value content. Think about customer stories, industry insights, behind the scenes content, more information about your brand, tutorials – something that will keep your followers engaged for the type of business you own. Social media is all about being social, not all about selling. 

Mistake: Posting then going silent means you’ll miss out on building communities and loyalty to your business. Neglecting engagent will end up with people no longer commenting, sharing or liking posts as they won't feel acknowledged.  

 

Solution: Make it a habit to respond and interact with your audience, post user-generated content and answer any questions that are asked. Regularly check your messages and try to promptly respond to build brand trust. Your audience need to know you appreciate them which is why staying active is key to crafting a business page that puts your customers at the heart of what you do.  

Mistake: Ignoring your feedback means you won’t know how your business is being perceived, or if there are any negative comments you need to clear up, take on board or clarify are false. Even worse than ignoring feedback is responding angrily and informally to bad reviews – so make sure to avoid this too. 

 

Solution: Address your feedback promptly and professionally. Offer solutions, take conversations off line so they can be dealt with privately. Handling complaints, can help to turn these dissatisfied customers into loyal ones if you’re able to get things sorted quickly. Alternatively, acknowledging great reviews can help you encourage more happy customers to leave 5 star reviews and shows your brand to be reliable and trustworthy. 

These mistakes are all rectifiable, and by avoiding them you can grow your business on social media. Even if you slip into any of these habits, making sure you make changes as soon as possible will help to get you back on track with your marketing and returning to your strategy for success.