Social plays a huge part in digital marketing plans these days. It’s rare to find a business that doesn’t have some form of presence on social media. One of the best things about social media marketing is the vast audience you can reach. And one of the worst things about it is the vast audience you can reach, when you’ve messed up! It’s vital that a business follows the rules, is careful what they post and stays mindful of how they react online. Unfortunately just one mistake can lead to damaging results. So, let’s take a look at some do’s and don’ts in social media marketing…
What To Do:
When it comes to content…
- Do post consistently and regularly. Let your audience know when they can expect the next post from your business. Create a social content calendar and plan the days and how many posts per week.
- Do engage with your audience. If someone asks a question, answer it. If someone leaves a comment, respond to it. Building a relationship with your online audience pays off in the end.
- Do consistently post content that’s purely for educational or entertainment purposes. Post tips, advice, share funny memes that relate to your industry.. Give something useful back to your audience on a regular basis.
- Do get creative with your posts. Use video and quality imagery. Try and experiment with the features available on the social channel.
- Do tailor your posts for your different channels. Yes, you can use the same post on Facebook and Instagram but change it up a bit to suit the different demographics.
When it comes to your brand…
- Do be professional in everything you post. Think carefully before sharing content, does it align with your brands values or will it make the business look bad? Make sure your own posts represent the image you want your business to convey.
- Do deal with negative feedback promptly and politely. Always address negative comments or reviews. Stay polite in your response and try to resolve in a way that both parties are satisfied. If it’s obvious that the negative feedback is not at all warranted and coming from someone who is not going to give up easy, respond once politely and leave it at that.
- Do show the human side to your brand. Keeping in line with your brands tone of voice, it’s ok (even favourable) to allow a bit of humour show through.
- Do learn the rules for posting competitions, and stick to them.
- Do regularly analyse the results of your previous posts. Find out what type of content is getting the most engagement and optimise future posts to reflect what you’ve learned.
What NOT To Do:
When it comes to content…
- Don’t post 5 times in one week and then nothing for the next two weeks. Find the magic number for how many posts per week work well for your audience. Too little and you’re losing out to competitor posts. Too many and you risk annoying your audience.
- Don’t ignore comments or questions on your page. It makes a brand seem uninterested and people will quickly move on if they’re not getting a response. Even if it’s a negative comment, address it.
- Don’t try to get a sale from every post. Social media is about much more than that and your followers will appreciate it if you give more than just a sales pitch with every post.
- Don’t post blurry imagery or shaky videos. Mobile cameras are so good these days that it’s fine to use them but make sure your finished shot is of high quality.
- Don’t publish the same posts over and over. Your audience deserves better than you being lazy and shoving the exact same post at them every week.
When it comes to your brand…
- Don’t publish a post without checking for grammar or spelling mistakes. Yes, we all make errors but it will make your business look unprofessional if there are regular spelling mistakes in your posts. Don’t ever use your business page to vent about your customers. It can be tempting to give out about a terrible customer in the hope of gaining sympathy, but it just isn’t professional behaviour.
- Don’t get sucked into a back and forth argument. If it doesn’t seem like the issue can be resolved quickly, move the interaction to private messaging or a phone call. This is in the case of a genuine customer and not a troll. Let other users see that you’re dealing with it but take the disagreement away from public viewing.
- Don’t go off brand completely. If your brands tone is normally quite formal, don’t have posts that are so informal they’re unrecognisable as your brands.
- Don’t use tactics that you know are against the channels regulations, it will negatively impact your account if you’re reported for ‘spamming’.
- Don’t get so caught up in the metrics that it eats into the time you should be spending creating and publishing.
So now you know some basic ‘what to do’ and ‘what not to do’ rules for social media marketing. Social is a powerful tool for advertisers and it can do more damage than good if you ignore all the ‘don’ts’. But you shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that social media is also a fun and engaging channel that you can, and should, experiment on. Stick to the above tips and you should see a positive return from your strategy.
If you want to have a chat about how I can help with the posting or managing of your social media accounts, get in touch.
