The 7 deadly sins of social media marketing

Almost 100% of businesses use social media to connect with people, the main problem is that we don’t really know how to create something personal and enjoyable for our audience, perhaps your brand is too boring or too promotional and people just push it to the side, here are the seven deadly sins of social media marketing and how to avoid them at all costs.

1. Being all talk
   Your audience would much rather look at pictures over text any day, tweet, Facebook posts and blogs with images or image links get noticed more than posts with continuous amounts of text. If you flood your feeds with line after line of boring text you are completely missing out on a huge opportunity to connect with people. Your posts need to be filled with: charming illustrations, clever videos and amazing images.
   
2. Putting on a one-man show
   Instead of just talking about yourself non-stop, make your audience the centre of attention, think about their interests, likes and dislikes and information that will appeal to them. It’s a good idea for you to take a break from constant broadcasting and actually share something they’ll want to click on, if your audience is uninterested it’s so easy for them to unfollow or remove your content from their Twitter or Facebook feed forever.
   
3. Not thinking before you tweet
   Topics you may think are trending can become ancient history so quickly, so how do your keep up? This is where newsjacking (the practice of capitalizing on the popularity of a news story to amplify your sales and marketing success) comes into play. These days marketing is very time sensitive, so make sure your posts are on time and not out of date.
   
4. Thinking all social media platforms are equal
   Always find the social media channels that best suit your audience’s interests, I think instead posting the same content in every channel you should experiment with the type and style and see what works and what doesn’t. Social media platforms are not one size fits all.
   
5. Putting your customers on mute
   Whether you have 10 followers or a million Facebook fans, you can’t ignore your audience, ever! Its so easy if a consumer has a complaint to share it with their family and friends and then with their entire network just with a simple click. 72% of consumers who complain about a brand on social media such as Facebook or Twitter expect a response within an hour.
   
6. Forgetting to be human
   We need to always remember to talk to our audience like humans, luckily the casualness of social media makes it easier than ever. Your brand needs to have a personality, this is how you will stand out from the crowd, you can’t be afraid to let your hair down, because once you have your audience will welcome you with open arms.
   
7. Just assuming your social strategy works
   These days we have more data than ever to truly measure how our Tweets, Facebook posts and blogs impact our audience. Of all the businesses and small companies using social media to market only a small percentage are taking the time to actually measure how they are effecting their audience, you need to have a data-driven handle on the impact your posts make.

In this day and age the customers are always in control, they always expect your to know where, when and how to connect with them through social media. Everyone who promotes their business has a different road, but avoiding these seven deadly potholes can help us all connect better.

At The Computer Guyz we pride ourselves on a broad range of services, from repairs and maintenance to IT support and website design or just some friendly advice, don't hesitate to contact us. 

Written By: Christine Romans
CopyWriter at The Computer Guyz Cape Town