These online platforms allow us to connect with other profiles that have similar interests to us, mostly friends, coworkers, companies and institutions.
Inbound marketing has made social media the main platform used by companies to implement their relational marketing strategies.In this sense, customer service and the dissemination of valuable content become essential tasks that companies must perform on social networks.
Based on this principle of “interconnection”, many companies have consolidated their brand through the Internet and social networks, largely replacing the use of conventional media such as television, radio and the press.
Through social media, surveys, photographs, videos and texts related to a product or service can be shared, which has allowed companies to understand the motivations of their customers and also learn about their opinions and criticisms.
However, what happens to those companies that know these principles, but do not carry them out correctly?Understanding how important it is to implement something does not mean that we fully understand what its best practices are. So, here is a list of 7 Bad practices on social networks that companies carry out .Evaluate whether you are not committing any of the following actions and think about how you can reverse your mistakes, without losing sight of your objectives.
1. Massively following people with the goal of them giving you a “follow back”
One of the basic principles of inbound marketing is to segment your potential buyers when creating a company profile on social networks.This requires creating a profile of your target audience that summarizes the characteristics of a buyer who can closely relate to your value proposition. For this person, your product or service must constitute an innovative idea.
If you start deliberately following people on social media in search of a follow back, there may be some conversion rate that ensures an increase in followers by using this technique, but you are really running the risk of not only following users outside of your target audience, but also attracting the wrong people to your brand. People who will probably never be interested in your proposal and who only started following you to be nice and return the “follow back”.
Be very clear about what you expect from your followers and keep in mind what your priorities are when creating social networks for your company.If it's about getting sales opportunities, then look for followers who connect with your idea, otherwise all the effort you put into your social media strategies would be pointless.
2. Overusing labels
Inbound marketing specialists recommend using at most six (06) hashtags to tag your images on these three social networks. Make a list that prioritizes which tags are most identified with your organization, also highlighting elements of the image itself.
Also find out which formats are most appropriate for your audience, that is, whether it is better to use videos, infographics or photographs with text.Identify which format is generating the greatest monetization of your content and be very precise with what you want to communicate in the tags. Remember that hashtags are also a positioning technique on social networks and of course, you do not want to attract the wrong audience due to wrong tags.
3. Constantly repeating content
People need new visual stimuli that can generate innovative experiences.Posting the same content every day at the same time dulls your customers' interest.To avoid this, you can have a specific content strategy but with different formats and key messages to achieve it. Create a publication calendar and visualize what your next steps are to follow throughout the month.
Ask yourself what you want your profile to look like and make it happen.In some taiwan number example networks, the “allowed” time in which you can repeat content varies, as is the case with Twitter, where some links (especially promotional ones) can be published more times without greatly altering the synergy of the social network.
4- Forgetting to respond to messages and comments
Social media is your ultimate customer service platform. You need to keep an eye on your social media inboxes and DMs, because if you don't, you could be missing out on a powerful opportunity to connect with your customers.Let them know that they can count on you whenever they need you, even being assertive when it comes to criticism or recommendations.Remember that customers should always play a leading role in your business model.
5. Not adapting your content to the specifications of each social network
Think of each social network as a party. Each social gathering has its own rules, etiquette, language, meeting length, and salient conversation topics. That's how Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram work. These networks have different goals in terms of ways of communicating the same message.
For example, on Instagram and Facebook it is advisable to place texts that do not exceed 250 words. If you manage to catch your reader in those few lines, you have managed to adapt valuable content for mass consumption. In this way,Keep in mind how you should communicate through each social network and the most appropriate formats for each of them.Twitter, for example, is an ideal platform for viewing videos, highlighting trending topics and keeping everyone informed about current events. Keep this in mind and adapt your content to each digital space.
6. Choosing a marketing agency that doesn't understand your ideas
Marketing agencies are great allies when seeking professional help to have a greater reach on social media.These companies are usually responsible for creating a concept for your brand, creating the graphics that accompany that concept, and managing publications on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, among others.
In this sense,Choosing a marketing agency that truly understands what you want to achieve with your company is vital to fully materializing your ideas.Choose an agency whose values are linked to yours and whose work with the different clients it deals with has a personalized and different touch.
7. Not studying your competition or the market
Understanding what is happening in your digital environment is vital to discovering what marketing strategies your competition is implementing. In this sense,Recognizing the trends and updates of each platform becomes a necessary practice that any social media specialist must carry out.Benchmarking with these objectives will allow you to compare your results with those of other organizations.
These market studies are important to highlight the needs that prevail in your audience and that your competition cannot solve.You have nothing to lose by finding companies that relate to your target audience and offer services similar to yours, in order to analyze their language. Is it effective? What aspects would you change? What things can you learn from them?
Finally, there is no doubt that these mistakes are very common today on social media . The key is to closely monitor how your receptivity has been on these social platforms and how your company fits perfectly with these potential clients. It is about correcting these incorrect practices in time and exercising a quick, effective solution and, above all, in line with your motivations as a company.