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Social Media Mistakes - The 8 Most Common

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26Sep

The 8 most common social media mistakes we see everyday!

The most common social media mistakes seem to happen in all companies – big or small.  They seem to be happen regardless of the department or the person(s) handling this adventure.

#1 – Measuring wrong

The most common metric mistake is emphasizing the number of fans you have over other markers. This approach that is symptomatic of a larger problem; viewing social media as just another mass medium through which branded content can be pushed. The reality is that it doesn’t matter how large your social footprint is if fans aren’t talking about your content on Facebook (#PTAT = people talking about this) and sharing your videos, tweets and or LinkedIn posts.

#2 – Too many and too much

Most people running social media try to do too much and spread themselves too thin. IBM, for example, discovered through an audit that it had hundreds of branded handles on Twitter. jumping onto new platforms without the resources to keep their content fresh and their fans engaged is a bottomless pit. It is better to just do a few channels really well than to try to be everywhere inconsistently.

#3 – Not utilizing the potential of a viral mentality

To maximize the web is to make the virus attach to millions and we do this by infecting specifically. We do that in Facebook by always tagging images and using hash tags # on all major keywords.

#4 – All you, all the time

Just like in social settings, brands, like people, get really boring if they only talk about themselves. Let that sink in. When you are networking and trying to hand out cards, how many people call you back later? The answer is very few. People don’t care what you know, until they know you care. Of course, you want to sell more products, but unless you have genuine news or product offers, we should focus on being interesting and interested. Creating content that is interesting requires knowing your target really well—something that is increasingly easier with Facebook analytics. Being interested starts by responding to comments and continues by asking questions. Once you figure out who they are, you need to deliver messages that are 100% appealing and emotional for them. Learn what works in Social Media especially when you are dealing with “Just-in-time emotions.”

#5 – Social media is isolated in one person or one department

Since marketers want to market, customer service wants to help and HR wants to recruit, isolating social in one department often limits the multi-functional role that it can play for an organization. This need not be the case. Share the social love across your company. I teach Undergraduate and Graduate Marketing classes at the University of Phoenix in St Louis and one of the things I make sure the students understand is this; “In a very real way, company’s do not own their brand anymore – because it’s what people say about you/your company when you are not in the room that defines the perception of your brand. We need a tribe effort to maximize our brand.

#6  – No road map is a sure way to not get there

As the old saying goes, any road looks good if you don’t know where you’re going. And so it goes with social. Establishing a clear and effective road map should have assigned a purpose to each channel, set up an editorial calendar, and even create an escalation process for customer complaints and determine staffing needs. Also, the road map should define the paid or earned media that will ultimately be required to achieve any kind of scale.

#7  – The rise of social media as a business app

Most everyone has a personal mobile computer and everyone with these computers has the opportunity to make viral image-based communications that engage visually. Examples include Tumblr, Instagram, Foursquare, and Google+ Employees come to work everyday and expect instant Communication and access to the types of applications that help them be effective in their personal life. For knowledge workers, personal devices and consumer social networks are ideal tools for building work relationships and conducting business.

#8 – Know True North

Stay updated and know where it’s all going. We all want results and all the faster. Patience and methodical strategies take time and money. It’s amazing to me as a creative media strategist when I see people spending time and monies in areas that may have worked in the past, yet not having relationships that are helping them find “True North” solutions integrated via SoLoMo, apps, and geo-fences.

A final note: If you aren’t making mistakes in social, then chances are you aren’t trying anything new. The trick is to turn these mistakes into learning opportunities that will ultimately put you one step ahead of your more cautious competitors.

 

Keith Thorn, LLC
On Point Business Solutions – Working Smarter, Not Harder® Apps

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