What NOT to do with Social Media

As our first DIG of 2012, “The Social Media Revolution” was wrapping up in Nashville, someone in the audience brought up an interesting point….. The DIG focused on how social media can completely change the way you market a brand, however this particular person was interested in what NOT to do when implementing social media into your marketing plan.

After we thought about it, here are 3 things your brand shouldn’t do in regards to social media….

Do NOT try to Use Social Media Without A Plan

Before you do anything online, you MUST have a plan of action. You cannot simply assume “If I build it, they will come.” Just because you have an account on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or anything else does not mean that more people will respond to your brand. Set goals for how you want to manage your brand online and what you want to achieve, because if you do nothing, then your brand will quickly be forgotten. It is hard to measure success without clearly defined goals.

Do NOT Post Sporadically and Don’t Get Boring

Maintain a good schedule of monitoring your accounts. Whether you make a post once a month, week, or day, make sure your customers know when they should expect something from you. If you fail to post on a regular basis, people will not see the point in engaging with you. Focus on quality content that is relevant and keeps engagement up. Understand that Social Media is a marathon, not a sprint. One post might have a high response rate, but that by no means guarantees people will respond the same way in the future. Also make sure you post a wide mix of content from videos to pictures to graphics to keep your networks interested.

Do NOT Spread Your Brand All Over the Web

Success is not measured by the number of likes or followers you may or may not have. If you focus directly on your initial target market and consistently engage and answer questions, then your networks will grow on their own. If you attempt to attract as many followers as possible by posting something meaningless every chance you get, your customers won’t feel valued. You do not have to answer every single post or tweet that comes along, but as long as you can show your networks that you care more about them than the actual numbers, success will be there in the long run.

We hope this gives a clearer picture about some of the mistakes brands make when using social media.

As always, if you have more in-depth questions about social media, we'd love to chat. Feel free to contact us any time.