The advent of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have given businesses a fantastic opportunity to reach out and engage a seemingly limitless audience.
In the beginning days of social media, many companies found success by making nothing but self-promoting posts that didn’t add any value for their audience. This worked well for a while – but then people started getting tired.
As time went by, consumers, internet users, and social media denizens alike grew weary of constantly being bombarded with advertisements and self-promoting social media posts. They began ignoring companies that didn’t add any value to their social media efforts.
Many businesses that are managing their social media marketing are finding that user engagement is very low. This is most likely due to one or more reasons. In this blog post, we’re going to look at the five bad social media habits that can cause users to ignore, delete, or disengage from the conversation.
Self-Promoting Posts
There’s nothing inherently wrong with making a self-promoting post on your social media accounts. Companies tend to get into trouble when that’s all that they do. Their social media followers want something of value and a reason to follow them online.
If you must make a self-promoting post, be sure to balance it out by adding something of value alongside it. This can be additional helpful information, a contest, or even a how-to video.
Posts with No Value
Social media posts that have no inherent value will get ignored and have little to no user engagement.
One great way to add value to a post is to create a little how-to video. For example, if you’re a plumber, have one of your workers follow you out into the field and take a 5 – 10-minute video of you showing how to fix a simple kitchen sink drain clog.
Most newer smartphones have excellent cameras and can take internet-quality videos that can be posted on your social media accounts. You won’t be losing any business by giving away small hints and tips as most people probably won’t call a plumber for a drain clog that they can fix themselves.
The posted video will not only add value to your social media posts but the next time one of your followers needs the services of a plumber for a job they can’t fix themselves, you’ll be the first person they call.
Grammatical Errors
Social media accounts that have many grammatical errors look very unprofessional. While not everyone is a William Shakespeare, that’s no excuse for not using spell-check. If your web browser doesn’t have a spell check, you can open a Word document or use Google Docs (a free service) to check for spelling errors.
If writing isn’t your forte, then hiring a social media management expert, such as Adapting Online, is a great way to go. We’ll be able to help you manage your social media accounts, grow your subscribers, and work to create valuable posts which will help increase user engagement.
Ignoring or Deleting Negative Comments
One of the worst things a company can do is delete or ignore valid negative comments about their business or services. This looks unprofessional, and there is a good chance you will only wind up making the angry customer even more upset. Not to mention, if the customer is angry enough, it can cause a small issue to go viral.
A negative comment should be seen as a good thing. You can turn bad into good by showing your social media followers that you honestly care about customer service and will do everything within reason to help fix the concern of the customer. This is called “reputation management” and can help quickly instill trust in potential customers.
Duplicate Social Media Posts
Managing multiple social media accounts such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram can be a full-time job. Many companies will try to save time by making the same exact post across all of their social media accounts. What they don’t realize is that many of their followers are following them on more than one account.
When people see duplicate posts, it not only looks sloppy and lazy, it causes them to ignore the duplicate post. Instead of cutting and pasting the same message across multiple social media channels, try to change it up a bit. Change the wording, or message slightly.
Social Media Management in Austin
If your company is having a hard time gaining new social media followers, getting people to engage and participate with your posts, or managing the ongoing content calendars and postings, give us a call at (512) 993-9993.
At Adapting Online, we’ve helped countless local companies manage and grow their social media accounts. If you have any questions that weren’t answered in this blog post, feel free to call or reach out to us via our website
Monica Thomason, Web Marketing Specialist
Monica Thomason has been involved in all aspects of internet marketing for over 15 years. She loves all things internet and truly appreciates what the internet can do for businesses. Whether you need help with content and SEO, ecommerce optimization, social media or reputation management she would love to help you!
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