However, the majority of people using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other popular sites are looking to post and engage with interesting, humorous, and trending content. With the right techniques, though, it is still possible to build your brand and gain customers through effective social media activity.
The way people use social media can cause issues for businesses who often get their approach wrong. While you might not damage your brand, you can lose followers and not get the returns you were hoping for. By fixing the following issues, you can ensure followers becoming engaged with your accounts, and your brand can grow.
Excessive Promotional Activities
Users expect to see some promotional activity from brands, but it can potentially cross a line and become irritating. It may be simply that the volume of ads becomes too much, standing out negatively to followers. It could, however, be that the promotions are not engaging or inspiring. The best types of promotions offer value to consumers, even if they don't make a purchase. You could, for example, educate people on a related topic, and transition to product promotion.
Poor Customer Support
While you may not have intended to use social media for customer support, this is difficult to control. Users will often turn to their preferred social media platform instead of using a helpdesk. If you fail to answer customer questions or request for help, it will be noticeable to followers. Even if you are just directing each request to your helpdesk, it is better than ignoring people and simply posting content with no direct communication.
Lack of a Theme
The best social media channels have recognisable themes, so followers know what to expect. Personal accounts might be diverse in their output, but this can feel incongruous to followers who become unsure of what your brand represents. Try to focus on a theme for each platform, ensuring it accurately represents your brand values. These themes can be created for sites based on images, text, and video. Of course, you don't want to become too generic, but a broad concept will help give you an identity.
Irrelevant Content
There can be a tendency for businesses to want to keep up a busy posting schedule. Posting frequently can work for some brands, typically when they have a social media team. If you don't have dedicated social media managers, though, it might be better to limit your content schedule. Posting frequently often leads to irrelevant content being used, usually not making much sense to followers of your brand. While you might want to comment on industry topics, make sure they are subjects that your followers will understand and be engaged with.
Misjudged Use of Trending Topics
There are new trending topics to be found across all the popular platforms. Popular brands can sometimes latch on to a trend, earning many likes and shares for creative use of the topic. Unfortunately, there is also the potential for mistakes to be made. A business might not fully understand the deeper concepts behind a trend and offend or upset some users. Trending topics are still a great way to develop social content, but it is important to be clear with what you are doing.
Social media can be a vital part of your business. Consumers expect to see a social media presence across all the major platforms, so it is important to take part in the process. When you have joined the major sites, though, you find that there is work involved. Avoiding these common issues ensures you are operating your sites to an optimal degree, providing users what they are looking for. Social media is not going away, so it is worth dedicating your time to developing this valuable marketing channel.