Sharpen your social media skills with insight from Smartist Social Media
To help sharpen your social media skills, we talk to Smartist Social Media.
There are no hard and fast rules to doing social media ‘right’. No tricks that can guarantee you success in terms of sales leads or growth in followers. The platform algorithms change too frequently for that to be the case and anyone who claims to know the secrets are generally trying to sell you Scotch mist. There are however, some common mistakes that businesses make with their social media. Here are our five top tips:
Too ‘Salesy’
However tempting, don’t use social media as a sales channel. Social media should be used to generate awareness of a business. More specifically, use it to grow a sense of familiarity with the brand and the team behind it, building knowledge of the brand value and ethics and developing awareness of what your business does.
Infrequent posts
Posting infrequently leaves the platform confused. You need to be consistent with how often you post and when. It's much better to start small and post once or twice a week every week for a year, than have a mad blitz and post everyday for a month, and then pause.
No personality
Brands need personality to sell online. A brand must have a clear identity that we can recognise and relate to. If we do relate, there’s more chance we will stop and read the posts. Some posts are so bland that they will almost certainly be scrolled rapidly past. The images might be boring or contain a stock photo that has had no thought given to it and the copy is poorly written. If you have to use stock shots, there are some great free photo libraries.
Unclickable links
Leverage links in your social media posts. You can now add more than one link to your Instagram bio and you can share a link in your Instagram story too. If you want numerous links, look to use an app such as Linktr.ee. On LinkedIn and Facebook you can include a link in your post and the platform will allow the viewer to click on it and go direct to the article – the added bonus is that the platform also automatically loads whatever image is associated with it saving you having to find a suitable image.
Lack of basic information
If we see a company that we want to use but can’t find their location from their profile or contact details, our most likely response is to move on and find another company. Similarly, you may not want to include an email and phone number in every post (because we’re not wanting to sell in every post remember) but slot them in occasionally so they can be found if anyone wants to use your services. Make it easy for your target audience to reach out when they want to.
The beauty of social media is that you can play with it and find what works for your brand. Stay consistent and persistent in your posting. Find your brand personality and use it. Don’t take it too seriously because worry and procrastination will hold you back.
Read 10 reasons why your small business should have a LinkedIn presence and how to win on social media.
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