Social media marketing refers to the process of gaining website traffic or attention through social media sites.
Social media has become a platform that is easily accessible to anyone with internet access. Increased communication for organizations fosters brand awareness and often, improved customer service. Additionally, social media serves as a relatively inexpensive platform for organizations to implement social media marketing campaigns.
With great power, comes great responsibility. Just like any marketing campaign, you want to have a clear social media strategy. Sometimes the easiest way to learn something is to list what not to do.
1. LUST
LET’S PAY FOR UNLOYAL FOLLOWERS TO LIKE OUR BRAND.
Buying followers is just a bad idea. Sure, it’s cheap to buy followers but what good does it do you in the end? All of the social media systems are figuring out ways to protect people’s feeds from spammers. Instagram just went through a huge purge of fake accounts. In the end, will people trust and believe in your company more because you have a brazillion followers, or will they trust and believe because you actually have a great product or service? It’s all about interaction and engagement.
2. SLOTH
WE CAN TREAT ALL SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLETS THE SAME.
Not a good idea. First off, you probably shouldn’t be on ALL social networks because however highly you may think of yourself you can’t possibly be ALL things to ALL people ALL the time. Different demographics/characters/targets spend time on different networks. Whatever channel you decide to tune your message into, it should be the only (or main) channel where your buyers hang out. They can’t hang out EVERYWHERE.
Research your best customers, take surveys, find out what their behaviors are on social media then focus your efforts on those channels. If it’s one – then focus on just one. Or, start with the top one to get your feet wet and incrementally add channels. Fan by fan, person by person, it’s really the only way to do it. You’ll find that your target customers are not spending time on every single channel so neither should you.
3. GLUTTONY
WE’LL STUFF EVERYONE’S FEEDS WITH PROMOTIONAL SPAM.
Spam-noun: irrelevant or inappropriate message sent to large numbers of recipients
Spam-verb: send the same message indiscriminately to large numbers of recipients
However you look at it – Noun or Verb – it’s not going to produce good results. It’s LAZY marketing pushing the exact same message out to the mass population. This message needs to be the right message, to the right target, at the right time for it to resonate and reflect positively on your brand. Don’t be a lazy marketer. The internet’s chock full of them and it’s not a group you want to be a member of. We, the intelligent/informed consumer, do not appreciate mass produced messages. We think of ourselves as unique, progressive, special and unique and expect to be treated at par with this.
4. PRIDE
WE’RE ABSOLUTELY AWESOME. PLEASE RETWEET.
People will only retweet what they consider important, relevant and retweetable. Asking for people to share or retweet will sometimes works but only if it’s for a cause or purpose. 9 times out of 10 it won’t. Those days are long gone. Speak to a person’s emotions and they will likely share, retweet and repost.
Don’t insult their intelligence. And, while we’re at it don’t ask me to “Like” you. I’ll like you if you’re worthy of a like, not because you ask. Contests and promotions that use systems like Rafflecopter or WooBox are a much better ways to earn shares, likes and retweets.
5. ENVY
LET’S HIJACK WHATEVER IS TRENDING
Jumping onto whatever hot topic or trending idea is out at the moment can work in the short term but eventually people will burn out on the memes and tune out. Don’t take shortcuts because you’re impatient with slow results to your social media efforts. Patience is an excellent self serving virtue.
6. GREED
WE ARE AWESOME, AS IS THIS SALE.
Don’t push too hard. Have an air of mystery, class and allure. Let the customers come to you. Pushing hard on a promotion or sale isn’t going to cause your customers to rush out and buy your product. Pick your punches and execute on your marketing campaigns. Showing a restraint is a good thing.
7. WRATH
WHY IS NO ONE COMING?!? LET’S SHOUT LOUDER.
Social media is a powerful tool that requires restraint. It’s more of an art than a science. The louder you shout, the more people will tune you out and CHOSE not to listen. The best way to get our attention is by listening to customers and engaging with them. Don’t just direct dialogue towards your customers – LISTEN to what they’re saying. Have a discussion, that’s what social media is all about. Learn about their problems and challenges so you can create solutions. People only buy something if it’s going to make them happier or avoid pain. Give them a way to do that and the customers will come.
CONCLUSION:
Unless you’re a hotshot celebrity you won’t see social media success before the sun sets twice. Fans, followers, likes, and retweets happen in time, provided your social media strategy is all about providing value in some shape or form.
Let us Help You!
We’ve worked with several clients to run their social media marketing campaigns. If your company would like learn more about Lion’s Share’s services, get a free quote here.
