Five social media mistakes that companies should avoid

Five social media mistakes that companies should avoid

17 January 2023 Off By Oscar Giacomin

Social media has now become an important marketing tool, used by companies to promote their brand and market their products by quickly reaching a vast audience, of both customers to retain and new potential customers. 

Social media usage today represents one of the most common online activities: in 2017 there were 2.7 billion social media users globally, by 2022 the number had risen to 4.59 billion. And it is estimated that the number will grow year after year, reaching almost 6 billion in 2027.

In today’s highly competitive market, brands strive every day to make the best use of every technology and platform, from Meta Business Tools to LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, and even TikTok for Business. All this is positive, but in doing so, care must be taken to avoid some basic mistakes that can undermine their efforts. Below are some of the common errors.

Not having a social media marketing plan

Although social media is a powerful promotional tool it can become a double-edged sword if not used properly. Improvisation leads nowhere; rather, it is essential to create a social media marketing strategy, which means studying and planning all the activities to be done. In practice, this means defining the objectives for each platform; defining which channels to use to achieve them and how to use them; analysing the context, how and what competitors communicate; determining what content to publish; how to divide the roles within the social team, etc. 

Not knowing who the target audience is

Knowing and identifying who communications are aimed at is essential to avoid failure. Therefore, analysis of the demographic data (location, age, gender, interests), feelings and behavioural patterns of real and potential customers is needed, in order to define what they experience, what they want and what they desire. Gathering this information takes time and is complicated, but it is essential.

Not engaging the audience adequately

A frequent mistake that companies make in social media marketing is not to engage their audience. Engagement is a ranking factor, but it also improves brand reputation, for example by answering customer questions on public forums. Engaging the target audience means interacting often with customers and followers, maintaining constant relationships with them and, very importantly, publishing content that is not trivial or simply advertising. 

Underestimating negative comments

Negative comments can not only harm but even destroy a brand’s online reputation and should therefore be handled with care. Taking them lightly and responding to them impulsively, or even ignoring or deleting them with the excuse that there will always be someone who complains is a very serious mistake: an unmanaged negative review or comment can become a boomerang for the company, given that a dissatisfied user who is ignored may become even more annoyed and write other negative messages, perhaps even on other platforms.

So never ignore criticism, rather respond to it and do so in a timely manner. Another good rule is to respond publicly, and then try to carry on the conversation privately, so as to investigate the matter and resolve any problem.

Preferring quantity over quality

On social networks, just like in many other fields, quality trumps quantity. To improve a brand’s reputation, beat the competition, retain customers and win new ones, it is not simply enough to post any content frequently, as the important aspect is the results the posts produce. Publishing 5 high-quality posts that attract 10 customers a month is better than publishing 3 posts a day with 10 comments and no qualified leads. Nor should it ever be forgotten that focusing only on quantity runs a terrible risk for anyone involved in communication, public relations or sales: becoming irrelevant. 

 

Oscar Giacomin  / General Manager, Facto Edizioni

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