There is no doubt that social media is one of the most effective marketing channels around, especially for powerful word of mouth feedback and viral content. From airlines to eateries, thousands of businesses around the world are embracing social media content to further their influence, expand their business, and increase their online marketing power.
However, with the good comes the bad, and there are certainly businesses that are embracing the wrong kind of social media promotion. Marketing is a field that is talked about by many, yet understood by relatively few, and the many recent failed social media marketing campaigns are evidence to the rules that you have to follow when marketing online.
These are the five biggest mistakes businesses make when they market online. From spam tactics to destructive marketing messages, everything that could hurt your online marketing image is covered. Get your marketing plan out, take notes, and eliminate any of the following from your marketing efforts:
1. Don’t just link to your company blog on Twitter.
Twitter users hate just being fed linked content. While it is easy to write off the entire medium as a backlink platform, doing so leaves an incredibly powerful marketing resource completely untapped. Invest some time in developing a real strategy for every social media platform that you use, and don’t just half-use something for backlinks and channel funneling. A much better strategy is to combine different social media platforms to create a tailored, powerful message.
2. Facebook groups are great for cult businesses, bad for ultra-small.
Why? Because the entire nature of a group gets destroyed when there are only a couple of people participating in the discussion. If you are a cult brand that attracts a lot of passion from your customers, users, or clients, a Facebook group is a great idea. Otherwise, it is best to keep your conversation in channels that you can easily attach yourself to. Small businesses benefit highly from blogs and micro-publishing, so a Twitter or blogging presence is much more valuable, as is a Facebook Fan Page.
3. Don’t drop everything to take on social media.
There are other marketing channels out there, and they are often much more effective than social media. For some, social media is their marketing calling card, but that does not mean that is has to be the same for you. Some brands translate better than others across different marketing platforms and formats. While one brand may succeed in a social media world, another might fall flat.
4. Don’t always listen to your social media feedback.
Feedback needs to be approached as a whole unit, not as disjointed units of variable value. When you use social media to spread your word, it’s easy to fall for the fallacy of valuing it higher than it really is. Feedback is valuable no matter what the form, and treating social media feedback as more valuable than a mailed letter is a broken strategy.
5. Don’t spam.
There are laws against email spam. There are laws against mailing spam. At this point, there are no laws about spamming your followers on Twitter. Don’t do it. As much as it can boost your short-term returns, spamming is quite possibly the worst long-term strategy imaginable. Focus on real connections, not the false connections that spamming creates.
Now here are some words to live by in your social media marketing campaigns. Write them down on a sticky, post them next to your computer, and refer to them often….
Lighten up, Share, Encourage, Embrace, Inspire, Converse, Listen, Ask, Answer, Be Real, and HAVE FUN!
Written by Andrea Kalli
EMAIL Andrea.
Andrea Kalli is the owner of Andrea Kalli Virtual Trainer and Assistant, LLC, the Productivity Club, and the Small Business Podcast Directory. Her focus is on Internet and Social Media Marketing, Creating Wordpress Websites and Blogs, Keyword Research and SEO, Product Launch Support, Content Management and Repurposing, and Audio and Video Editing.
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