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As a distributor in Los Angeles, chances are you’re well versed in social media – you access accounts and platforms on a daily basis in order to build an online presence, strengthen your brand image, and encourage product engagement and customer loyalty. While social media can be incredibly useful to businesses, it can also cause big problems if it’s not handled correctly.
The following are the top five social media mistakes that you could make if you’re not careful along with some advice on how to avoid them altogether:
1. Using social media as an extended form of promotion
Sure, social media is a great platform for promotion and for letting potential customers know about your brand, but there needs to be a balance. Most social media experts recommend an 80/20 ratio, meaning that the majority of your content should inspire and engage, while the remaining 20% can be left open to advertising. Social media is a fantastic way to build relationships and encourage brand loyalty, but followers will get bored if your business only talks about itself.
2. Failing to make the most of banner photos on social media profiles
Your company’s social media profile must stick out if you’re to keep up with your competition, and profile photos and banners are the best way to create interest. After all, the majority of social media users will be skimming – your profile must inspire without needing to be read. Banners – that is, the image that dominates the top of your profile page – should say everything that needs to be said about your brand, alongside your logo. Don’t waste this space or your opportunity to engage with your audience.
3. Misusing hashtags
Ah, the hashtag. One of social media’s best methods of monitoring engagement and creating a buzz, the hashtag can be fantastic when used correctly. It can also be costly if it’s not. There is always the temptation to overload a post with hashtags to make sure you haven’t missed anything or to use random tags in an effort to hijack other threads. But, control yourself and don’t do it. Social media etiquette recommends using two or three hashtags per post at most. And the most important consideration is to make sure you keep them relevant to the post’s content.
4. Neglecting to add images to articles
Adding images to the posts that you make, and the articles that you share, is an incredible way to create a buzz, encourage engagement, and attract attention. Potential customers are much more likely to follow a link that you’ve shared if there’s an image to entice them. And the posts that you make can be greatly accentuated if a relevant image or photograph is included. Images capture a person’s interest long before they read text, regardless of whether they were actually searching for your post in the first place or not.
5. Mixing business with pleasure
It’s easily done, but accidentally posting a personal message or response via the company’s social media account can be catastrophic and take a lot more than a public apology to fix. It’s essential that you have a trained and experienced social media team on hand to handle such publicity. This not only frees up your time to concentrate on business, but will ensure that all public communications are in keeping with your brand, and utterly professional.
It’s important that you don’t fall into the trap of assuming that these five mistakes are the only ones to be made. Social media is rife with them, unfortunately. Inconsistencies in your brand’s messages, failing to respond well to criticism, buying likes and followers, and neglecting your profiles altogether are sure-fire ways to fall foul of social media.
What are you doing to make sure you’re making the most of your social media voice?Share your experiences with us in the section for Comments below.
If you own or manage a whole distribution or manufacturing company in Los Angeles, and you’re looking to stay up to date on the latest technology, be sure to download your free guide, How COOs at Los Angeles Distributors and Manufacturers Get More Done: A Guide to Productivity, Data, Staffing, Delegation, and Making It Home for Dinner Most Nights.
