3 Common Social Media Mistakes That Could Kill Your Credibility
Harnessing the social web is one of the fastest ways to put your online presence on the map. There are three basic reasons why companies use social media to boost their traffic and engage audiences:
- Social media is viral by nature, which means that posting the right kind of content will inevitably result in a quick increase of followers.
- Especially for sites like Facebook and Google+, they actually possess a fairly heavy amount of SEO value. (If done correctly, of course.)
- Social sites also have apps, and with the massive amount of smartphone and tablet users there are out there -it means increased awareness, notifications, and an even closer following.
#1: Inconsistency. Because It Matters.
One of THE BIGGEST mistakes I have seen in recent years has had to do with inconsistency. You’ll have firms that post a lot of content on one month, and then barely a peep during the next.
From a technical aspect, inconsistently timed posts have a way of getting lost in the social web, because with how advanced newsfeed algorithms have become …if they catch a whiff of spam, then your posts are going to land in solitary confinement. To the newsfeeds, a sudden flurry of posts can look a lot like spam. On the social sense, effective branding has always depended on consistency, and social media is no different.
If you want to stay consistent, then pick a posting schedule that is timed for achieving optimal traffic, and stick with it.
#2: Lacking Brand Personality
I’ve also seen social sites like Twitter get companies into a great deal of trouble, because the CEO decided to repost a ‘funny’ (but risque’) meme …and some followers weren’t exactly happy about it. Of course, there’s always the predictable ‘apology’ afterwards.
But this shouldn’t even be a problem if you’ve nailed down your brand’s personality and don’t venture outside of it.
Your message needs to be consistent (there’s that word again) with your brand’s image; and if you’re posting content that has nothing to do with your brand’s image, then you’re going to lose the followers that could actually convert.
The question isn’t how many followers you can accumulate. You want to attract the right followers. Posting content that’s inconsistent with your brand won’t do you any favors, and only harm your company’s overall reputation and credibility.
#3: No Strategy or Direction
You might be posting consistently, and keeping in-step with your brand’s image, but you’ve got to have a strategy if you want to get anywhere. For instance…
- Each post should have a picture, because those will achieve almost 40% more interaction.
- On social media, timing is everything. For instance, between 1PM and 4PM are your best times to post on Facebook.
- Character counts matter. Too long or short, and followers won’t bother to read them. Each social site is different in this regard.
I could list a dozen more ways to optimize your post and engage followers on social media, but ultimately, this comes down to your strategy and how well you’ve thought through it.
What could harm your credibility in this regard has to do with numbers. If you’ve been using social media and have done 1-2 posts per day for the past two years …you’re still hurting for followers, then this could make your brand look irrelevant and lacking ‘social proof’.
Moving forward strategically, however, will not only increase your following -but it will also increase your ROI with it.