Sally Falkow
The 2015 PRESSfeed/SNCR Media Trends report shows that almost 100 percent of companies – large and small – are using some form of social media marketing. The problem is, not all of them are doing it right.
LACK OF STRATEGY
Probably the biggest, and most costly, mistake is to just jump in and start posting content on social sites without a plan. Social media is like any other business activity – it needs to be carefully thought out, planned and implemented so that you can see whether your actions are having an impact. The “throw spaghetti against the wall” approach is not effective. And if you don’t have a goal in mind, you’ll never be able to measure ROI.
PR 101 RULES
Social media may be a new channel of communication, but it is still just that: communication. Creating the right content for the right audience and delivering it on the right platform makes all the difference. Each social platform has its own “native language” and demographic. Moms read different content and respond differently when they’re on Twitter than they do on Facebook or Pinterest.
It’s not enough to take one piece of content and plaster it across five or six different social sites. Social media is the perfect place to find like-minded people. Use a tool like FollowerWonk to search Twitter bios and find the people who are interested in your topic or product. Reach out and start a conversation with them. Build relationships. They already have an audience that could be interested in your content and your product.
Here’s one example: An online preschool needed to find Moms with preschool-age kids. By doing some research and listening to online conversations about the subject of educating a preschool child they discovered a site that writes content about preschool education and ranks preschools. They have the perfect audience. By forging a partnership with this website the online preschool boosted their registrations by five times.
BROADCASTING INSTEAD OF ENGAGING
This is the most common error. It’s way easier to make and post content than it is to listen to the conversations, watch for brand mentions, intent statements and questions and actually engage with your audience. But it is called social media for a reason – it’s meant to be social. That implies conversation and engagement. Otherwise it’s just another form of publishing.
QUALITY OF CONTENT
There is an old saying that if you have nothing good to say then don’t say anything at all. It holds true in social content. Don’t post because you think you have to post five times a day.
Great content gets results. It has be perceived as valuable by your audience. Get to know your followers, fans, current and potential customers. When you truly understand who they are and what they need, great content ideas will flow naturally. Invest in the resources needed to make the content visually appealing.
NOT TRACKING DATA
Now that it’s possible to track every click and action online, using the data available to see what’s working and what’s not is essential. Do you know which social network drives the most traffic to your site? Or which one sends visitors that convert best? Do you know the best time to post content on each platform? It’s vital to know how to find this data and how to use it.
Correcting these mistakes will improve your social media results. Try using this Social Media Strategy Template.
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