The 20 Dont’s of Social Media

Maintaining your social media accounts is a little bit like dating – too much attention or too little effort can ruin everything. Keep the following in mind before submitting your next post!

1)      Don’t Forge Relationships

Sometimes companies become so preoccupied with increasing their number of followers, likes and shares that they miss the point of having a social media account. Rather than focusing on how many other companies and people follow your accounts, focus on the content your posting and how it will benefit your audience. Gradually, viewership will expand and the people seeing your content will have genuine interest.

2)      Don’t Forget Proofreading

Typos and other grammatical errors reflect poorly on the company or person posting. Although some sites allow for edits to published content, a thorough proofread will prevent the hassle of having to repost. Have a second set of eyes look the content over, too!

3)      Don’t Forget to Set Goals

While the primary focus shouldn’t be numbers, setting goals will keep you motivated to grow your account. Number of followers, audience engagement, and frequency of posts can be tracked and modified to maximize viewer interaction.  Also, having big picture goals, such as 1,000 followers after the first 3 months of launch, will allow for growth without fixation on numbers.

4)      Don’t Forget to Make a Schedule

You will need a schedule in place to reach your goals. Gather content, decide on how often and who will post and put the plan into action. Then, gage interaction and adjust your schedule according to your metrics.

5)      Don’t Oversell

Shoving your company or product down people’s throats never bodes well for sales. Studies have also shown that overexposure to the same content causes ad-blindness, meaning consumers will become oblivious to your posts if they see them too often.

6)      Don’t Forget to Interact

Sometimes companies become so wrapped up in what they’re selling that they forget to ask their consumers for feedback. Take a poll or ask for advice from time to time. Interacting with customers is the first step towards brand loyalty.

7)      Don’t Be Inappropriate

You may think you’re being funny or getting a rise out of people, but one bad post could be the demise of your entire social media campaign. Plus, you may end up offending potential or current clients and lose out on sales volume.

8)      Don’t Be Irrelevant

Next to being inappropriate, being irrelevant will have negative repercussions. If viewers think your content is random or uninformative, they may unfollow or ignore your future posts. Make sure content is fresh, unique and meaningful.

9)      Don’t Forget Your Audience

Every brand or individual should have a good idea of their main demographic, even if it varies by social media site. Posts should target these users directly to maximize exposure and solidify viewer engagement.

10)   Don’t Jump on a Viral Band Wagon

In the internet age, content goes viral daily. Unfortunately, using viral content to boost your own viewership could make you look desperate or unimaginative. Instead, create content that will go viral on its own.

11)   Don’t Spam Followers

You don’t want to use viral content and you definitely don’t want to post anything that people will perceive as spam! Viewers will likely delete or block you on the spot and lose trust in your brand. Keep content relevant, credible and interesting so you don’t alienate the audience.

12)   Don’t Be Unrealistic

When setting goals and considering what you want to accomplish through social media, be sure to take into account the size of your industry, the size of your organization and the resources you have to maintain your accounts.

13)   Don’t Force Team Participation

It is true that a team effort will help grow a social media presence exponentially. However, be sure that team members don’t feel obligated to partake in the cause. Just as you want followers to have genuine interest, you want team members to voluntarily contribute to the company’s social media reach.

14)   Don’t Be Negative

Anything you post, regardless of your current condition, should be positive. People use their social media accounts as an outlet and seeing negative content could hinder their opinion of you or your brand.

15)   Don’t Ignore Customers

As your post frequency and number of followers increases, customer engagement will as well. If they leave complaints, engage them and ask for recommendations. If they are complimentary, thank them for their appreciation. Make sure they know you’re paying attention so that they’re more likely to interact with you in the future.

16)   Don’t Beg Your Audience to Engage

While you want to use your social media account as a means to increase sales, don’t come off as desperate. Relentless and annoying posts will push people away and likely have an adverse effect on conversions.

17)   Don’t Misuse Tools and Trends

It seems a hot new social media site emerges every year. Keeping up with the latest and greatest can be difficult, especially if you’re not the most tech savvy person. Do yourself and your audience a favor and learn how to use each site before fully launching your account. Misusing tags, hashtags and other functionalities will distract from the cause.

18)   Don’t Be Cheap

While most social media accounts are free, advertising through them can be costly. The pricing and boosting options vary across each platform, but make sure to budget for extra exposure. Social media sites are equipped with the proper advertising tools to maximize viewership. You’ve worked hard to create valuable, unique content – now let the internet do the leg work for you!

19)   Don’t Forget to Measure Metrics

Now that you’ve set goals, you need a way to track your progress. Most social media accounts include these features, but there are also additional resources that will help graph your growth over time. Use these metrics to manipulate your online activity and reach new milestones.

20)   Don’t Underestimate the Time Commitment

As with most things in life, your social media accounts are going to need some extra attention, especially at the beginning, to really take off. View the time and energy you’re spending on building your accounts as an investment on future sales. Being stingy with your time spent on social media won’t help achieve the goals you’ve set.