Social Media Communication Isn’t Easy: Tips on What to Avoid

Social media can be overwhelming with so much information out there.  And if that wasn’t confusing enough each piece of information is telling you to do something different.  When talking to clients the most common thing the majority of people what to talk to me about, is the fact that they are so confused they don’t know what to do.

With the excessive usage of social media continuing which is shifting the communication space all businesses need to be active in the social media space.  The fact you only get one chance to make a good impression means you need to avoid the pitfalls so where do you start?

Tips on what to avoid:

You don’t need to be on every single platform

It never ceases to surprise me when I speak to people is how many social media platforms individual businesses have.  Unless you are a corporate who has a team of individuals working on social media, limit the amount of platforms you are active on.  It may be tempting to want be on every social media site, however you don’t need to be.  Have you considered the amount of content you need to come up with that is original, relevant and of value?  Stick to the networks that have the largest audience and where your target market is likely to be.

Failing to Plan

Most of you have probably heard of the saying ‘failing to plan is planning to fail’.  This applies to social media too.  The number of businesses that don’t plan their social media activities is unbelievably high.  It is essential that you have a clear objective for the platform you are engaging in.  Whether it is brand recognition, promoting your expertise or generating leads all your planning and content will be based on this objective.  So spend some time devising a plan.

Too Much Marketing

This point is a contentious one.  Some people believe that self-promotion must be limited on social media, while others believe you must self-promote otherwise what is the point of engaging?  However, my argument to this is that self-promotion is not engagement!  Getting the balance right is important.  I follow the 80/20 rule – 80% valuable content / 20% marketing activities.  Traditional one-way marketing will damage your business on social media.  It is outdated and our mindset needs to change.

Uninteresting Content

This is a challenging one I must admit, knowing what your audience wants.  However, there are some basic key points to this.  Don’t talk ‘to’ your audience, talk ‘with’ them – you what to promote engagement and conversation.  Try using humour (keep it clean!), ask questions, provide an interesting opinion to the article you are sharing and so on.  You want to connect.

Social media is still an experiment.  You need to try, see what works and refine what doesn’t.  Sometimes this takes a little longer than we anticipate and businesses lose patience because they are not getting the results.  This is because expectations are usually not aligned with the objective.  Get to know your audience, stick with the plan long term and most importantly have some fun otherwise really want is the point!

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Thanks for reading!

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Tags: social Media • social media - what to avoid • social media communication • social media tips