A well-curated social media presence is a major asset to any marketing program—but what does...
Social media isn’t just for friends anymore. Today, social media has an important influence on business, politics, and other categories of our lives. All businesses want to reach their full social media potential–but it’s not always easy to figure out how. Sometimes, even when you know what to do, you may not see the results you want because you’re also doing a few things you shouldn’t.
Here’s what to avoid when promoting your content on social media.
Don’t Overshare
Social media isn’t the place to share too much information. Think quality over quantity. It’s best to come up with exciting posts worthy of sharing and leave your audience wanting to learn more. This approach works for any business in any industry. All marketers can benefit from sharing just enough information on social media to entice more followers and increase their brand awareness.
Don’t Ignore Basic Writing Rules
It may seem that on social media, it isn’t necessary to cross every “t” and dot every “i”–but nothing could be further from the truth. If your social media posts contain frequent grammar and spelling errors, it reduces your credibility. Treat your social media posts as professional content and pay attention to the basic rules of writing: avoid using all caps, resist the urge to overuse hashtags, and generally keep your posts concise and clean. If writing isn’t your strong suit, professional writers and editors can help.
Don’t Post Too Frequently
It’s important to stay active on social platforms when promoting your content. However, avoid the urge to update or post too often. Multiple posts per day may be too much for your audience. If you post too frequently, your followers may lose interest in what you’re saying. Also, avoid posting the same information repeatedly–this is a surefire way to get your followers to unfollow or unsubscribe from your feed. Finally, don’t “like” your own updates and posts. Doing so makes you appear desperate or unethical–or both.
Don’t Rely on Automation Too Much
There are various programs and applications designed to automate your content posting, but you shouldn’t depend on these exclusively: doing so will eliminate the personal effort that connects a business to content and dehumanize your social media feeds. When this happens, you miss out on the experience of engaging with your followers, and you may even unwittingly turn some of them away.
Engagement and interaction are essential to promoting your content successfully. Focus on building genuine trust and relationships, whether you’re handling the content internally or not.
Don’t Use Inappropriate or Irrelevant Language
It should go without saying that offensive or foul language has no place in your social media posts. It’s also a good idea to be mindful of what and where you post. Choose your social media platforms carefully, using only those that suit your business needs and goals. For example, it wouldn’t make much sense to promote a clothing line on LinkedIn; such content would be better suited for Instagram or Facebook. Again, strive for quality over quantity.
These are just a few of the mistakes many marketers make while using social media to promote their content. The good news is that when you become aware of these potential pitfalls, you can avoid them and focus on methods that will work. Post interesting, relevant, and useful content on your social media feeds and you’ll be able to promote your brand much more effectively.
