Believe it or not, social media is celebrating its 20th birthday this year. (The first recognizable social site, Six Degrees, launched in 1997. Yeah, we don’t remember it either.) Even after a couple decades of uploading profile pics, liking and unliking, social media can still be an intimidating mountain to scale – especially for businesses.
That’s why we’ve compiled our list of top social media don’ts for businesses. Beyond that, it’s also a good guide to follow for ALL communications with target audiences – whether online or offline. The golden rule is this: Make it about them, not you.
DON’T: Avoid engaging.
Whether your business is on social media or not, we can guarantee your audience is. That means they’re likely talking about you there. If you don’t have a presence on that platform, it only means you’re less likely to know what they’re saying and have no chance at all of controlling or influencing the discussion.
DON’T: Ignore your audience.
Make it a goal to answer every question, message or post about your business. Ignoring potentially negative feedback only validates the situation to other audience members (and yes, they’re watching).
Addressing it head-on not only allows you to control the situation, it demonstrates that your business is attentive and responsive. This may be as simple as a “Thank you (insert angry customer name here) for reaching out. We’ve contacted you via a private message about the situation.”
DON’T: Solely focus on advertising.
Social media platforms offer great opportunities for paid advertising placement that can help grow your business’s audience online. But to KEEP that audience, you’ll also need to simultaneously develop engaging content. The best social media strategies aren’t really about social media at all – they’re multichannel marketing strategies that continually connect consumers with your brand. This involves not just social but your website, blog, digital and also offline marketing tactics.
Wondering how to make it all work for your business? Find out how we can help:
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