Don’t Make These 5 Social Media Mistakes

Post by Blog Manager Robbi Hess

Are you going blithely along with your blogging and social media, fingers crossed, that you are marking your territory with your words and your efforts? Do you have a plan for your social media? No plan? Yikes!

Here is what I see many times with the business owners with whom I work: There is no social media plan, other than to react to a topic or comment that’s been posted and they don’t post often enough or, conversely, they post too often.

Whether you’re new to the social media game or are just in the revamping and reviewing mood, make sure you don’t make these five social media mistakes:

1. Deleting negative comments. If you post a social media status update and someone makes a snide or snarky comment either about your words, your spelling, your opinion or whatever… don’t delete the comment. If someone “cared” enough to come to your site and make that comment, chances are he or she is watching to see how you react. Whether you’ve quoted an incorrect stat, spelled a word incorrectly, or simply have strong feelings about your particular topic you need to respond in a professional manner. If you can’t really find anything to say then simply write, “Thank you for commenting” — short and sweet and non confrontational. If your opinion is strong enough against what they’ve written, remain professional and start a dialogue. If you feel the comment should be taken off line, ask the person who’s commented to do that. Some people welcome negative comments and will be deliberately provocative in order to provoke a reaction.
2. Not having a plan in place. Whether you operate from an editorial calendar or from a week-to-week plan, you do need to have one for your social media. Know your audience and when they are online.With the way Facebook keeps changing its rules on who will see your content, this could be trial and error until you hit the mark, but if your followers know you will be posting at 8 am, noon and then at 6 pm, they will know to look for your updates. Have a plan in place for how you will share your blog updates, share news and events you’ve found online and for sharing the updates of others. It could be as simple as knowing you will do a different type of update for each of the times you post throughout the day.
3. Forgetting that it is not all about you. Yes, it’s great that you and your pet get out every morning for a walk or that your cat shares your breakfast with you, but your followers will only want to see that so many times (perhaps once or twice!). If you have a business, chances are your followers know that but they do not need to be sold to every time you post a comment, even if you couch it in terms such as, “wow was my dog dirty today after playing in the mud, thank goodness I operate a mobile dog grooming business…” see where I am going with this? Your followers will look more fondly upon you and your business if they come to know you as the go-to person about all things pet AND then they will remember you when they need their muddy dog groomed.
4. You’re not having conversations. Remember to go to the pages of people who follow you and comment on what they write. Don’t make your social media be one-sided. If a follower comments on what you’ve written, reciprocate. Social media is just that… social.
5. Not taking time at least once a week to review your numbers. If you’re posting and commenting and receiving feedback, that is great, but you need to take the time to review your analytics and see if your social media posts are truly hitting the mark. Also, if you don’t know how many followers you started out with, how will you know whether your page is growing? Most of the social media platforms, including Facebook and Google+ and Pinterest have analytics on the pages that you can check to gauge your progress and growth.

Go forth and be productive on social media! If you have questions or wonder if you’re “doing it right” hop over to the BlogPaws Community and ask us a question!

(Photo Shutterstock: Cat with blackboard)