What not to do when using social media for business

If you’re a business owner it’s important you have a presence on at least one or two social media websites. Using social media is a great way to speak to your customers and help promote your brand. Running a social media account can have it’s obstacles and for some isn’t as easy as it would first seem and there are certain things to avoid when using social media for your business.

Don’t spam your followers

Posting on peoples timelines or sending promotional content through private messages is really no different to posting flyers through a letterbox. Not only is it an invasive way of promoting your business, it can also make your company look pushy or rude. Never force people into looking at your business, if your service, content and marketing strategy is good enough people will come to your social media because of the brand, not because they were forced into it.

Only using social media to advertise

Ultimately the point of your social media account is to promote your brand, however posting content that is purely promotional isn’t the best way to go about it. It’s important to also build a relationship with your customers through social media, you can do this through posting updates about the business, sharing other peoples relevant content or replying to others. Constant promotional content can not only be boring but also makes your brand look incredibly one dimensional.

Don’t be negative

This should be obvious but it’s important to keep your social media accounts positive and professional. Admittedly it can be difficult if you are in a bad mood or read something you don’t like, but posting negative responses is a bad idea and doing so can reflect terribly on your company. 

Don’t highjack hashtags

Using hashtags can be a great way to promote your brand, adding one or two hashtags in a post can be a great way to get found but don’t get too carried away. Adding lots of irrelevant hashtags can actually be detrimental and often can make people look too pushy or can make the post look like spam. If you’re using a trending hashtag on your post, it’s important to remember to check why that topic is trending, you don’t want to use a hashtag to promote your product if it is trending for negative reasons. 

Be personal

It’s good to show that there’s a person behind the screen, your followers or potential customers want to know they’re doing business with actual people and not robots behind a screen. Obviously don’t be too personal, don’t post about what you’re having for dinner or how you’re annoyed because of the weather, but posting lighthearted posts that include some personality can really make your posts a lot more relatable.