When it comes to social media, most entrepreneurs are self-taught. While there is nothing wrong with this, learning a new skill by yourself means you are likely to make tons of mistakes along the way. When launching a social media presence for your business, make sure you avoid these four pitfalls.
- Horrible trending choices
One of the best ways to reach your target market is to get involved in the trending topics. However, most brands tend to jump on any trending topic even when it’s not remotely relevant to their product or service. You risk posting something insensitive if you take this route. Interacting with trends is a great way to create buzz for your business, but before you send out a tweet, make sure you know why the topic is trending.
- Wrong use of images
Figuring out what to post, whether on Instagram or Facebook can be hard, but when images are involved, you need to be a little more careful. First, you need to get the relevant permission to use an image, or you will get yourself in trouble. Secondly, you need to ensure your images are the right size. If your desired image is too big, use an image resizer to bring it down to the desired size while maintaining the quality. A post looks off and unattractive when the image doesn’t fit. A quick google search will tell you the image size a specific social site recommends. Always use this, especially when posting your profile picture and cover images.
- Not responding to queries
You are busy, that’s understandable, but the whole point of having a social media site is to engage with your audience. Even when things are hectic, you need to figure out a way to respond to every query your customers have. You should also expect complains and negative feedback, but even when this happens, you must respond. Remember that social media does not sleep, even when your business closes for the say. If something is urgent, respond as soon as possible, so your customer does not feel neglected and ignored when they need you the most.
- Inconsistent brand image
Businesses often create content that’s inconsistent in appearance without knowing. Your content needs to feel and look the same to create a consistent brand image. Establish a tone, persona, color combination, and other brand image details in advance and ensure your social media team knows what’s expected of each post. This way, all images, videos, fonts, color, and communication style you send out will be associated with your brand and make it more memorable to your audience.
While these are only four mistakes you could be making, there are tons of other mistakes that can be detrimental to your social media campaigns. For instance, you shouldn’t post the same content on all social platforms, you should research each content, and you should measure all performance. Take your time to write a strong social media strategy because it will help you cover most of the social mistakes you might make.
Photo credits: coworkinlondon.com