Social Media is about communication and interaction. It is an online way to engage and be ..social! Digital Marketers have taken to the social media platforms with enthusiasm to engage with customers and raise brand awareness and loyalty. This works miracles when done right, but the problems begin when social media is used (and sometimes abused) for sales pitches and hard core promotion.Three key things to avoid on Social Media Platforms
Selling
People are on social media platforms to have fun, relax, get updates and read interesting information about things they are interested in. No one thinks, I want to buy a new fish tank, oh let me go into my Twitter account and see what I can get. Let me see what my friends are saying on Facebook and maybe a good fish tank will pop up while I am reading. The likelihood of finding a customer by posting sales pitches on the social media streams is very slim. That is not to say you cannot reach your potential clients through social media, but it is a different process. You start off by establishing a connection, by offering valuable information - How to clean your tank, How to improve the life of your beloved fish.. then you offer a link to various tips and hints or FAQs .. then.. and only once you have engaged in an insightful way... can you hope that if your client is looking for a fish tank while checking their Facebook updates, that they will remember that you are the fish expert who might actually know where they can get a good tank!
Auto pilot
Setting everything to auto will just tell your followers you really could not be bothered. In real life you wouldn't set up an auto message to tell your friends and contacts once every hour what is happening. Why do it to your online contacts? You also haven't really read what you are tweeting or posting so you never know what you could be sharing. Sure you have set it up on a good RSS feed but what if, the author of the next post on that feed does not know what they are talking about? Or express views that you oppose?
You would never know, because not only have you not read it but you have simply autotweeted it too. It is a sign of respect towards those who clicked to follow you, that you at least read what you post before you do.
Inconsistency
With business life as busy and hectic as it sometimes is, it is not always easy to remember that your social media profiles need dedicated and personal daily attention. Stay informed and share information with your followers, even if it is one article or update a day and across all your platforms. Don't forget your Linkedin Groups. Share your insight or a good blog or article with them and help your online community grow. Nothing shouts absence louder than a Twitter account whose last post was Jan 2012.
When it comes to social media engagement, it is not just about quantity, it is also about relevant and insightful quality.