Are you looking after your social media for your business? If so, congratulations! Social media can be fun and is the number one way to reach your customers and build engaging, important relationships with them.
But are you doing it right?
Here are 10 signs your social media is not working.
1. Not using it. A lot of people feel that just because “they are on social media” is all they need. Just having your business name on your social media does nothing. Being on social media is not a trendy thing to do. It’s how to reach your customers.
2. Overusing quotes. Everyone loves a motivational quote. They make us laugh. They inspire us. But if your social media is only quotes and nothing relevant about your business, chances are, you are not reaching the right audience.
3. Not creating original content. The wonderful thing about social media is that you can share content from others. That’s great, but you also need to provide original content that you create! How can you show you are “expert” in your industry, if you have nothing to back that up?
4. Sell. Social media does not work when you constantly broadcast your products/services. Customers don’t just want to hear from you when you are trying to sell your products/services.
5. Your followers are not representing your customer base. When your followers/fans are made up mostly of people outside your target audience, your social media will fail as these people will not buy from you. Never buy followers/fans. There is a difference between gaining followers/fans through advertising as opposed to buying fans. You wouldn’t buy customers in the real world, why would you do it online?
6. Ignore comments. Ignoring comments and questions sends a clear signal to customers you don’t care about them. Customers want to engage with you. They want to feel they are more important than just dollar signs.
7. You are everywhere, but don’t know where your customers are. When you are on all the social media channels because you were told “everyone is on it”, it can become overwhelming and unproductive. You don’t have to be everywhere. Be where your customers are. Don’t know where they are? Ask them.
8. Text only. When your social media are only words, no images, no videos, no links, it quickly becomes stale and will not generate the excitement you are looking for.
9. No social media icons on website. Visitors to your website will not know you have social media if you do not have icons on your website people can click on. Make it easy for people to find you. If not, they will not follow you on social media. Remember people don’t have ESP when it comes to knowing you are on social media.
10. Profiles are not filled in properly. All profiles need to have profile images, cover photos, complete bios, and contact information. Without these, your customers will not understand who you are, what you sell and may not buy from you.
Long gone are the days where your customers come to you. You now have to go to your customers.
[Tweet “Use your social media to reach your customers. Use it often.”]I would love to hear from you. Are there ways you can tell a business isn’t using social media correctly that I didn’t mention?
by Jennifer Grigg
