23 Jul Social Media Marketing New Year’s Resolutions
It’s a new year, and with it comes new perspectives, goals and lessons. In the past, social media may have been more forgiving but these days, one wrong step can often lead to a PR crisis that has you begging for the immediate return of newspaper advertising. While social media has been responsible for the instant success for some businesses, it has also been the downfall of many. To help you become more social media savvy, we’ve created a list of New Year’s Resolutions for your social media strategy.
#1: Establish a Social Media Strategy
One of the most common mistakes we see from brands and businesses is neglecting the importance of a solid social media strategy. Taking the time to consider your ideal audience, brand voice and messaging on social media is the first step to creating a successful social media strategy. From there, you’ll need to consider the type of content you want to create and post, ensuring that it is consistent and relevant for your targeted audience.
#2: Identify Which Social Media Platforms Complement your Business
Truth be told, not every business will find success on Twitter and not every business will benefit from LinkedIn marketing. It’s important to consider and figure out whether a platform is the right fit for your business and only focus your energy and resources on the ones that actually help grow your business.
#3: Deactivate Inactive Accounts
When social media was first introduced as an essential part of online marketing, a lot of businesses created a profile or page on every platform, not considering the upkeep or whether the platform was ideal for their audience. If you’re one of the many businesses who have inactive accounts on platforms that don’t work for you or your audience, make sure to login and deactivate your page or account. Having an inactive account can be more damaging than not being on a platform at all, as potential customers may think you have gone out of business or worse, you may have unhappy customers reaching out to you about their experience and see your lack of response as a sign that you don’t care.
#4: Nurture Your Social Presence
Just like all the other parts of your business, your social media presence requires nurturing. Make sure you’re paying your social accounts enough attention by not making the mistake of just posting when it suits you or when you remember. Each platform has its own algorithms to consider which rely on your consistent posting and engagement. Not to mention, that social media timelines are already cluttered, so it’s important to post quality content regularly, to stay at the top of your customers’ minds.
#5: Proofread Your Content
We’ve all made the occasional faux pa, especially when it comes to spelling mistakes. So, it doesn’t hurt to proofread your content, including any text on images. Things like your product pricing, important dates, or even contact numbers can easily be overlooked especially when we’re in a rush to get content posted.
#6: Learn Social Media Etiquette
With everyone being an expert on social media, it’s important to know your pages from your profiles and your likes from your followers. Social Media Marketing is all about creating a connection with your audience so make sure that you’re quick to respond, use the right tone and put always emphasis on being a human. Nobody likes the generic, robot-like interaction. They want to connect with a real-life person, so speak to them as if they’re standing in front of you.
#7: Don’t Reply from your Personal Accounts
Nothing makes us cringe harder than seeing someone reply to a customer from their personal account, instead of using their business page. As much as people want human interaction, they also want to know that their comments and concerns are being taken seriously by the brand or business. Replying from your personal account not only lacks professionalism but also poses a security concern. Remember that we all have a digital footprint and with the right motivation, unhappy customers may take things too far by knowing your personal details.
#8: Step Away, Think, and then Reply
Having a customer tear your business or brand apart on social media can often feel like a personal attack. Having said that, it’s important to remember that negative criticism doesn’t break a brand but the way that you respond can. If you find yourself dealing with an unhappy customer via social media, make sure that you reply appropriately, paying careful attention to your tone. If you can, try your best to move the interaction to an in-person meeting or via a phone call by asking for them to send you a message with their contact details so that you can take the appropriate action.
If you still feel overwhelmed by the idea of social media and need some help navigating these digital waters, get in touch with SOMS Digital Agency today and we’ll help you make this next year the best one!