You always hear about the things your brand SHOULD be doing on social media, but what about the things you brand SHOULD NOT be doing? Those practices are just as, if not sometimes more, important to know for your brand’s digital marketing success.
So before you post another thing online, check out six of the top social media don’ts we have reviewed to make sure you are headed in the right direction in the world of social media marketing.
Don’t ignore your audience
One of the main purposes of your brand being on social media is to get in front of people, gain awareness and to create relationships with your current and potentials customers, so you want to keep those people engaged, right?
Of course you do! So don’t ignore the people who are interacting with you. Respond in a timely manner to their comments, keep them engaged, start conversations with them – build and nurture those relationships each day!
And when it comes to negative feedback (and it will happen at some point), respond thoughtfully and promptly to show your care and appreciation for both the topic and customer or fan.
Get rid of inactive accounts
Don’t make it hard to find your brand online or confuse those who are seeking out your brand online by having inactive, or multiple, accounts on one social platform. By having one page on the platforms you choose to represent your brand on, you are making it easier for your audience to find, and interact, with you.
But you don’t need to be everywhere. And remember: you need to maintain each account to make them work for you. If you can’t commit to being present on a platform, don’t be there. Choose the platforms that are best for your brand and be there – and be engaged and present.
Keep these easy-to-find pages updated regularly with consistent, unique, engaging and valuable content your target market wants to read about.
Don’t go in blind
Before you get started on any social platform, you need to have a plan. A plan that goes beyond just which platform you will be on and how many likes and comments you want to get once you’re there. Think about the bigger picture; think about the goal your company is currently striving for overall.
Do you want to sell more of a certain product? Would you like to grow your email list? Are you seeking attendees for an upcoming event?
Whatever it is, think about how social media can help you reach that goal and wrap your social marketing plan around that. (Remember, social media is just a piece of your marketing pie, it isn’t the whole thing.) The content you share (social posts and blog posts), hashtags you use, graphics you share, ads you run, and the audiences you are targeting with these ads will most likely be altered slightly as you reach a goal and start working toward a new one.
Don’t forget about consistency
It is crucial that you stay consistent to your brand’s voice, personality and values through everything you share on your social pages.
From the content to the graphics and images, be sure each piece of content showcases and represents your brand correctly to help ensure each impression is memorable and recognizable.
Don’t rely on automation
Of course there are some things you will definitely want to automate to make the management of your pages easier and less time consuming (think scheduling your posts). But, if you have an automatic responder to say hi to new followers set up on any of your social media accounts, remove it.
These take away from your brand’s personality that you are trying to convey through your pages and make the experience of engaging with your brand less personable and more robotic.
Don’t treat every platform the same
Each platform and its algorithms are unique and should be treated as such. It is important to understand the differences between each of them and share content that is tailored to its respective social platform.
The same practices don’t apply to each social space, and because of this, it is recommended that you don’t cross-post. Sure, it’s easy to add the same post to all your social pages with the click of one button but, if you want to share the same content on each platform, change it up a little bit to fit the guidelines and best practices of where it will be posted. (And trust us, if you do so, your content will look cleaner and more authentic.)
For example:
- The images and graphics you create for and share on Pinterest will look a bit different from the images and graphics that are shared anywhere else.
- Messaging on LinkedIn will most likely be different from your messaging on Instagram (and other less “professional” platforms).
- Twitter’s character limit is much shorter than all other platforms (140 characters). People on Twitter are looking for more “bite-sized” content that is quick and easy to read.
- Instagram posts will often include more hashtags than posts shared on another social account.
I.e.: Shorten your Instagram posts to fit Twitter’s 140-character limit, check the hashtags used and remove any “unnecessary” hashtags before posting to Facebook. Yes, you can use hashtags on Facebook, but users are much more likely to utilize and pay attention to them on Instagram. A good rule of thumb for Facebook is to stick to 2-3 hashtags per post.)
Eager to get your brand’s social marketing plan together and put into action? The Snap team is ready and excited to learn about your brand and goals, and to get started on creating your marketing strategy with you!