You want to be on social media to give yourself another avenue to promote your products/services, but that’s not why people want to follow you. Sure, followers expect promo codes and product announcements from time to time, but they also want to see a broader assortment of things from your brand. Only posting self-serving promotional messages tells your followers that you only care about the consumer aspect to them, not the rest of what makes them unique and interesting real people. This is why it’s so important to post other types of things that will appeal to the rest of their personality as well.
2. No Real Value
Everyone has that friend that just posts meaningless junk on social media like “Just got to work!” or “Eating a sandwich for lunch.” No one really cares about these types of messages and they’re likely to be ignored (or worse yet, drive followers away). Some businesses post this same sort of meaningless drivel just so that they can feel like they have some sort of social media presence. Unfortunately, doing social media poorly is often worse than not doing it at all. If you don’t know what you should post on your social accounts, get help! There are plenty of reputable, qualified, professional social media management options available to help you out!
3. Obvious Automation
Automation isn’t necessarily a bad thing in some cases, but when it’s obvious to followers that your social media accounts are on autopilot, that’s a bad thing! People want to talk to people, not faceless brands, which means that your goal should be to have followers view your brand as a figure in their lives (a good friend, a knowledgeable parent, that cool guy from down the street, their loveable geeky cousin, etc.) rather than a cold, hard corporate shell.
4. Aggressiveness and Negativity
Some businesses go a little overboard when it comes to touting their superiority over their competition. Other businesses go on the offensive when something negative is posted about them online by a former customer. Either way, this kind of negativity and aggressiveness isn’t appreciated by followers, and can cause high unfollow rates. Instead of getting into a flame war online, always take the high road and remain positive in all situations. If this isn’t your forte, don’t let your business suffer. Instead, hire a reputation management expert to help you weather the storm if your brand has negative press that it has to address.
5. General Shadiness
Don’t bombard followers with incessant posting. Don’t buy followers. Don’t sell follower information. Don’t cyber stalk followers. Just don’t be shady! It never works out well.
Ned help with your social media management? We would love to talk to you about developing and executing a social media strategy that will attract followers to achieve your marketing goals. Whether it’s ecommerce sales, event marketing, non-profit cause awareness, or corporate branding, we’ve seen it all! Get in touch with us today!
Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Web Consulting for small businesses, Copywriting and Local Online Marketing. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and enjoys cooking, watching sports and spending time outdoors. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about marketing theory and SEM trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned!