5 sins of social media marketing

Social media has become essential in everyday life. Gone are the days where it was just for personal use; social media is now an integral part of a company's marketing strategy (and if it isn't, it should be).

From the big brands that we know and love, to smaller ones looking to expand their audience, everyone is using social...

In fact, 97% of marketers use social media as part of their marketing strategy, but that doesn't mean that everyone knows how to leverage social... and therefore always craft personal and relevant posts for their audience. Granted, social media marketing does take up a lot of time, (I should know) but it's worth making an investment - or you could miss out on building your brand. 

So, here are five sins of social media marketing that you should avoid at all costs:

1. Being ALL talk

You have to remember that on all social media channels, everyone is trying to do the same thing. Everyone wants their posts to be seen; everyone wants their posts to stand out - which makes it harder to do so. The key to social media content is to show, not to tell - did you know that tweets that include an image get a higher engagement rate of 200% than those without?

Don't flood your social media accounts with reams of text, because you won't connect or engage with your audience this way. Brands such as Innocent have what could be described as the perfect Twitter account, using a mixture of pictures (products and personal), competitions, and retweets of their customers!

2. Ignoring the 80:20 rule

First question, as a social media marketer, do you know what the 80:20 rule is?

If not, it's time to get acquainted, very well. Applying your advertising approach to social is a big mistake - social media is about being social. Use the platforms as an opportunity to capture the attention of your intended audience by highlighting things that they'll be interested in, by sharing their content or engaging in a conversation.

Paddy Power use their Twitter account very well, always keeping it relevant, and interesting for their audience.

Remember, on social, it's very easy to mute or unfollow brands that just talk and don't listen. Take a look at a blog by my colleague Robbie, The death of social media as we used to know it, and keep social media, social.

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3. Seeing every social channel equally

One size fits all rarely rings true; it's the same across your social media channels.

Think about your business, B2B audiences spend most of their time on LinkedIn, while B2C often prefer Facebook, Instagram, etc. Look for the channels that best align with the interests of your audience and then experiment with the content that you share until you find what resonates the most.

Measure and analyze what works well, and what isn't really getting you the results that you're after - then you can optimise accordingly. Don't publish the same content to every channel, always look to create a tailored approach depending on the platform and your message. HubSpot have got their tone across channels nailed...

See how they have made the message for similar posts different? They have clearly tested different types of messaging across channels to identify that using statistics returns more engagement on LinkedIn, whereas more personal posts work better on Twitter.

4. Forgetting you're human

Hopefully by this point in my blog, you'll know that the personality aspect of social media is crucial for you to stand out from the crowd, and build your brand. Don't bombard your audience with corporate jargon, or send out automated replies, all you'll achieve that way is potential customers clicking the unfollow button.

The purpose of using social media as part of your marketing strategy is to build a community of brand advocates; it's not just about what you're selling. Here're a couple of brands who are having fun with their Twitter accounts. By showing personality and an interest in their audience @TescoMobile have a brand advocate in Hannah Clark...

5. Assuming your social strategy is effective

Today, us marketers have access to a lot of data to understand what is performing and what isn't - so use it. What's the point in spending time, effort, and money in a social strategy if you don't measure the ROI on your efforts?

It's easy to focus on your amount of followers or numbers of 'likes' as your metrics, but those numbers don't tell you anywhere near the whole story. When creating your social media strategy, define actionable KPI's for each network, and understand exactly what it is you're wanting to achieve. Then you can begin to measure whether or not you're hitting your goals, and make the necessary adjustments to get results.

Lastly, if you're looking for a social media campaign that summarises what not to do - take a look at House of Fraser's #emojinal campaign... which left their followers feeling very confused.

Always remember to add value with every message you post, keeping things relevant and engaging.

Need help with your social marketing strategy? Discover how you can drive traffic, leads and sales using social media in our eBook, download your copy below.