Christina Barker, Manager at Dolphin Outsourcing is back with another educational blog. This time she is highlighting some mistakes that should be avoided when using social media for your business including how you can use these common mistakes to make your business stand out for all the right reasons.
Today I'm going to be talking about the mistakes to avoid on social media. What are the most common mistakes when it comes to social media? How can you use these to make your business stand out for the right reasons? So I'm just gonna go straight into it.
Watch the video or read the transcript below to find out more.
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Inconsistent Branding
The top thing that I have found, personally, after working with many clients and being in social media for the time that I have is that a lot of small businesses don't have a consistent brand. Every business should have some type of branding, be that something simple or something that's done professionally. If someone finds your website, for example, and everything on there is purple and blue with a slanting font they would expect to then go to your social media and see a similar thing. So having a consistent brand will help you with this.
Not being active on Social Media
It sounds like quite a big one but not being active on social media could be seen as a red flag for your potential buyers or clients. It can be seen as wow, they aren't posting on social, so maybe they aren't a business anymore, maybe they're not bothered, and they don't have anything to sell because nothing's been posted. It's not a great way to come across to people as well. Posting lots in one go, then nothing for like weeks on end is also an obvious sign that you aren't planning your social media content very carefully. You should be focusing on two platforms, that's what I suggest, so you don't spread yourself too thinly.
Use the correct grammar and spelling
Not as common, but I see it across the board, is businesses that don't use the correct grammar and spelling. It doesn't matter how short or long your posts are, you need to be making sure that you are checking everything before you go and schedule it or post it. If you aren't using the right spelling or grammar, then you're going to come across as being a bit unprofessional and it shows that you aren't paying much attention to details, so the client might think, well, if they're like that in their posts, how can they write anything for my business?. They want to see that you can communicate effectively and that you are a professional business.
Not checking insights
People don't check their insights. It's one of the top mistakes that I see business owners not doing. What you want to do is check all the insights on the platforms that you are posting on. So if you don't check these, how can you know what is working for your business and what isn't working for the business? How can you know which days and which times are best for your audience? You should be checking your insights regularly. It would be really helpful to make a note on some of those results and keep a close eye on, wherever that might be pen and paper, somewhere online, on your phone etc. I would also suggest writing some social media goals, we have talked about goals in the past, but write some goals down, keep track of those, and then just check them every so often. Revisit them every quarter, for example, just to make sure that you are on track to where you want to be.
Sharing irrelevant content
The next one is sharing content that your followers might not necessarily like. So what things are you sharing on your social media at the minute? Is it making sense to your ideal client? Is the type of person that engages with your posts, the right person that you want in your business? If they aren't buying for you or maybe becoming a client, then you probably aren't sharing the right content to encourage them to do so. Think about what your followers are going to like and make sure that you are applying it to the right audience and not just out to Joe Bloggs, for example.
Connecting with the wrong people
Connecting with the wrong people, not necessarily on all platforms, mostly for LinkedIn, a lot of people do business on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is also great for business to business companies, so this doesn't apply to everyone, but a huge amount of people do use LinkedIn for business. The way that you interact on there is usually via your profile, or you should have a company page as well, but via your personal profile, that's what they're going to see first. So when it comes to connections, quality is more important than quantity. So before clicking connect, stop and think about whether that person you're connecting with has things in common with you. Are they someone that could be a client somewhere along the line? That's your main goal or are they someone that might know someone who might become a client? Are they someone who can help you or what can you help them with? It does go both ways. See how your network of connections can link together. You need to be forming a relationship with them, get to know them, get to know the people already on your connections list. If you've got 1000s of people on there it's going to be hard to connect with every single one. Never accept someone and not talk to them. I like to connect with people and make conversation with them as soon as I've connected. It would be like someone walking into a shop, and then walking straight back out again without the assistant welcoming them, that's how I look at it. When you go into a shop you expect the assistant to say how can I help you? Talk a little bit about your business, a bit about what you offer but don't go straight into the sales on LinkedIn.
Dishonesty
So believe it or not, some business owners lie about their achievements, or they exaggerate on things they've done. It does bug me personally but some people might say, for example, that they've made £20,000 a day when that's not happened. That's the sales, it's not profit, and it's over a few months! Others might say they've been in the industry for absolutely years and then you find out later, that your their first client, true story. I could always tell you more about that privately, but it has happened to me. I just can't believe these things happen.
So they are my top mistakes to avoid on social media. Are you making any of those mistakes yourself? Are there any more that you'd like to add to that list that I might have forgotten about? If you can do social media, get into the habit of posting those great quality posts consistently. You're going to then stand out against other companies and showcase yourself as a leader in your industry. You want to be showing that proof your a professional company that people will be more than happy to work with. Don't hide behind your social media accounts.
As always, if you are looking for help with any of our social media, we offer assistance from as little as just £22 per hour and we can give you a full audit of your platform along with recommendations to get you more business. You can contact us via our website, which is www.dolphin-outsourcing.co.uk.
Until next time, goodbye.