Social media has become *the* place to connect with fans and advertise. This means that brand marketers have been pushed to take to Facebook, Twitter and every other fad network that pops up. Because of these external and internal pressures, brands will often jump onto a network without creating a plan of action, making a bunch of mistakes in the process. Unfortunately, they usually don’t even realize they’re making them. Here are the three most common social media mistakes brands commit.
Establishing and then abandoning an account
Maybe you jumped on a network because you were led to believe that it was the hot new place to be. Maybe you created an account specifically to host a contest and then promptly forgot to continue maintaining it. Whatever the reason, there are lots of brand social accounts that have been created, built out and then abandoned. When a brand abandons an account, not only is it failing to engage the fans and audience it built up (for however brief a time) on that network, it’s also tossing away the work that went into creating that presence in the first place. It also reflects negatively on the brand. Before establishing an account, make sure you have the time and energy to dedicate to building out and maintaining the account. If you don’t, then reconsider creating it.
Posting inconsistently
You’ve created a social account. Great! Now, have you established a calendar to help you post to it consistently? Many brands haven’t. Although an inconsistent posting schedule may not technically mean that you’d abandoned the account, your fans might feel like they’ve been abandoned. Consistency gives them something to look forward to. If you don’t give them content to look forward to on a consistent basis, why should they continue to ‘like’ or ‘follow’ you? By the time you return to the account, you might be returning to a vastly smaller audience. To build and secure your audience, establish consistency early on and maintain it.
Targeting too many audiences
Brands that have product lines appealing to multiple demographics often feel like they have to create content that speaks to each of them. In reality, many of those demographics might not be interested in connecting with them across the social space. For example, Pinterest is mostly dominated by female users. If your Pinterest audience is made up of female customers, don’t bother creating male-focused Pinterest content. To ensure that your content and voice are focused, target one or two demographics and create catered content for them. This will keep your message from becoming muddled. If your brand has products catering to very different audiences, don’t be afraid to establish individual accounts for those products. Conair has established beauty and men-focused social accounts to cater to its separate target demographics.
Need some help to right your social media wrongs? Take the first step by learning how to creating a reliable content calendar here.
