6 ways that businesses fail on social media

Make sure to avoid these common missteps

Target audience: Businesses, digital marketers, social media programmers, advertising agencies, SEO specialists, entrepreneurs, educators, journalists, Web publishers.

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any small business owners use social media as a marketing and customer-service tool. A recent industry survey tells us that 92 percent of marketers surveyed call social media important to their business. Despite the widespread use of social media, many business owners are inadvertently hurting their brand through their efforts, instead of growing and building their business. There are countless benefits of using social media, but remember that there are risks associated with using social media in your business. Here are six mistakes you may not realize you are making on social media.

Not responding to questions and comments

1It isn’t enough to simply post on social media. Posting, tweeting, pinning and so on are just one piece of the puzzle. You need to take as much time to read and engage your followers’ questions and comments as you do posting your own stuff. Respond quickly to comments and answer questions – it’s important!

Not being your true, authentic self

2It may seem like you can pull off a different personality on social media. You may have an idea in your head or who you should or want to be on social media – but this isn’t a smart strategy over the long term. Instead, be yourself. Share your true opinions and thoughts and let your personality shine through. Your audience would rather see and connect with the real you instead of one you pretend to be.

Thinking ‘It’s all about me! me! me!’

3Constantly promoting your products or business is one of the biggest and most harmful mistakes you can make. You don’t always need to make your business at the forefront of your posts. Quit the constant selling and stop subtly relating all posts back to your product or business. You may wonder how to write for social media. Strive to provide valuable content to your audience to keep your business in their minds because they like you instead of driving them away.

Not building relationships

4Social media isn’t about throwing your message in the face of your fans and followers. It isn’t even about sharing everything you know. If you aren’t working to build a community and foster relationships, you’re missing the most important aspect of social media marketing.

Over-posting

5A common reason people unfollow brands on social media is because they post too frequently. While there is no optimal number of times to post on each social networking site, take a look at this infographic, which can provide a great guideline of how often to post on various social media sites. This might be a good guideline: Facebook: 3 to 10 times a week; Twitter: at least 5 times a day; Pinterest: 5-10 times a day.

Posting the same type of content repeatedly

6Think about what you post on social media. Do you post just a few types of content? Do you share your blog posts and ask questions? Posting the same things time and again will cause your audience to block you – and your business – out.

If you’ve ever made any of these mistakes, you’re in good company. Learn from those missteps and remember that this form of marketing is an extremely powerful tool that can help your business grow and thrive when used consistently.