5 Deadly Sins of Social Media Marketing

Social media is a hot topic nowadays. Much like a fad, the topic seems to have come up from nowhere, and companies everywhere are struggling to understand the ins and outs of adapting their marketing strategy to social networks. But therein lies the problem – social networking is not a fad. Rather, it’s a fundamental change in the way people interact with each other and, perhaps more importantly for you, with brands and businesses.

This means that only a true understanding of this fundamental change can enable you to come up with the right social media strategy for your business. Social media marketing is not rocket science, but it’s not as easy as it looks, either. So with that said, I leave you with the 7 deadly sins of social media marketing.

1. Not keeping up with your social media outlets. Hey, you created that Facebook/Twitter/YouTube/whatever profile, now you have to deal with it! Or course, we can do it for you. Much like a baby, once you’ve created a social media profile for your business, you have to feed it and nourish it if you want to see it grow. Otherwise it will die, and that will hurt your business. 
2. Not connecting with your fans/followers. Hey, business owners: if someone comments on your blog, asks you a question on Twitter, or write on your Facebook wall, answer them! Not every single comment has to be addressed, but more often than not users will appreciate it if you take 30 seconds to show them that you care. Simple actions like retweeting a user’s post or replying “Thanks!” to a user who writes something positive about your brand can go a long way. Trust me.
3. Give up. Social media marketing is no different than SEO, in the sense that it takes time for results to start showing. If you give up at all, you’ll throw away a ton of future potential that could really help your brand grow. You probably won’t see many results in the first few weeks, or even months, of executing your social media strategy. Don’t worry, it takes time. Stick to the plan and keep on trying! Of course, if you think the whole social media thing is really not working out for your business, chances are you need to re-evaluate your strategy. But giving up is a no-no.
4. Not actively engaging your target audience. Ok, so you’re supposed to respond to your fans and followers when they engage you in conversation. But that’s not enough – you have to actually drive the conversation by engaging your followers. Try creating and giving away free content or resources on your social media profiles, and ask users for their opinion. Pose a safe but thought-provoking question and get a debate going. As people start connecting with your brand, the viral effect will create results that will benefit you in the long run.
5. Go it alone. I’m assuming you are not a one-man company here. If you are, carry on. But if you have a few employees on your payroll, make sure your social media strategy incorporates them. It may be tempting to want to control everything that happens in your social media profiles. Because of this obsessive need, many managers end up delegating all social media interactions to one person in the company, or even worse, they don’t let anyone other than themselves near the company’s social media profiles. All this does is create a bottleneck. Instead, utilize everyone in your company, and this includes people outside the marketing department. Yes, even programmers and accountants should be Tweeting about your company! Think about how many more people you can reach this way. And if you’re worried about someone screwing up on your social media, don’t. After all, you hired your people and you trust them with work that is probably more crucial to your business than logging on to Twitter a few times a day. First, set a few ground rules. My favorite rule is, “don’t be stupid” (it works, trust me). Then, develop a strategy, and let your employees and partners start engaging your audience!