5 social media moves your business shouldn’t be making

For businesses both large and small, social media can be a blessing, it’s a relativity low cost way of marketing your business compared to the likes of pay per click marketing and if your budget is tight, an inexpensive, yet effective way of gaining exposure and connecting with customers, however sometimes it can go wrong. 

Leaving the wrong person in charge 

It’s understandable that as a business owner you don’t want to spend all of your time running the social media accounts. It can be hard work and often takes a lot of time before it makes any true impact, which is why you might want to give this role to a lower level staff member or even outsource the role to another company, but be careful.

Make sure your social media staff are fully trained and completely aware of your brand and your social media policies. Hiring the wrong person, or not having the correct rules in place could result in some unprofessional posts which could ruin the reputation of your brand.

Neglect social media security

Your social media security is a big deal, there are plenty of people out there looking to get your details and it’s incredibly common for businesses to get their Facebook and Twitter accounts hacked. Be it to spread spam content, send offensive posts or ruin a brands reputation, it’s not unheard of for even big brands to get hacked.

Make sure your passwords are secure, choose passwords that aren’t obvious and can’t easily be guessed by others and most importantly make sure nobody has access to your social media unless they really need it.

Don’t get political

This is important. Don’t use your business social media account as a way to vent your frustration or air your opinion on any form of politics. Most business owners know not to bring politics into the workplace and with the country usually split on most political issues, even the most innocent comments will offend someone.

Additionally, you want your business to stay as neutral as possible, having any form of political opinion can change how customers view you and can actually drive customers away.

Fail to do your research

Not researching a trending topic or hashtag can be a bad idea, jumping on a random trending hashtag might sound like a great way to seem relevant and draw people to your social media pages but it could backfire horribly. 

If you see something trending, make sure you look at WHY it’s trending first before you even consider writing a post or tweet. The last thing you want is to wade in a something and be completely out of your depth.  

Forgetting your audience

Sometimes it can be easy to get caught up in business, you might find yourself constantly posting but not really engaging with your customers. The key to success with your social media marketing is in the name, be social.

Use your social media accounts as a way to connect on different levels with not only your customers but those in a similar industry or any partners your company might have. Taking a few minutes to respond online could create a lifetime of customer loyalty.

Social media is here to stay and as times are changing it’s likely that even more social media platforms will pop up, make sure you’re ready, set your ground rules and you’re sure to get results.