Are You Making One of These 10 Common Mistakes That Will Kill Your Social Media Campaign?

Social media is booming like never before and with millions of subscribers using services like Facebook and Twitter every day, it is not surprising that it has become the ubiquitous marketing channel for every brand.

At TalenAlexander, we have been watching this trend ever since it was a hatchling and like many online marketing teams out there we’ve graduated from being naïve rookies to highly trained professionals. The dozens of social media marketing mistakes we encountered, and learned from, have acted as stepping stones to our success, and here we are to elucidate the don’ts of a successful social media campaign.

Subscribed to Many, but Active on None

This is the most common mistake committed by marketing professionals and brands! Just because there are so many websites doesn’t mean you have to sign up with all of them. Ever heard of QQ or Qzone? Maybe. According to a detailed survey by Statista, these websites have more than 600 million active users. Now you might be tempted to create a profile on them, but unless your target audience is active on these sites there is no need to create a profile and leave it inactive– this could inadvertently hurt brand value.

Redirecting Inquiries

While a customer care center is an integral part of every company, a survey by JD Power & Associates claims that over two-third of the digital population is inclined towards using social media platforms for getting queries answered. However, redirecting a customer’s question or claim to the customer care personnel from social media means precious time is wasted and you will probably have an irritated customer on your hands. Be it via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, it’s important to respond and close the loop at the point of contact.

Slow Response

Our team at TalenAlexander always has specific instructions to never delay a response– it being positive or negative hardly matters! We follow a strict responder memorandum within our team as well as with our clients which is what you should be doing as well. A HubSpot survey confirmed that 61% of internet users search for products online and when they have a query, they tend to look for answers on social media platforms rather than an official website or a call center, which is why it is mandatory to keep responses quick and to the point.

Using Template Responses

Avoid old school response templates when dealing with customer inquiry because in the past bots and spam emails were non-existent. A template response such as “Please click to know more” is considered to be spam and probably spyware in the modern era dominated by the internet. While it may not be fiscally possible for startups to assign a person to respond to every query, consider using colloquial templates which are less business-like and more humane in tone.

Repetitive Content on Every Platform

A successful social media strategy is about engaging your audience and offering them valuable and unique information; creating a blog post, an infographic or an informative video only to share them on a dozen sites will never work in your favor. Through years of experience, we have deduced that visitors expect an unparalleled experience when they sign up to follow a brand’s presence on social media. This is why it is essential to share informative content only and one that is exclusive to a particular social media platform. Another way to avoid repetitive content is by not signing up for multiple social media sites in the first place, which we cannot stress enough.

Don’t Pester your Patrons

Don’t be obnoxious on social media and never overwhelm your customers by flooding their mentions with constant marketing promotions. The original intention of a social media presence is to share new information, catch up with friends, and stay informed on subjects of interest. Requesting a visitor to register on your site or check out your products is inevitable, but keep it to the minimum– let them decide based on the valuable information you offer.

Targeting the Wrong Audience

Creating a brand promotion campaign at TalenAlexander is an elaborate process. After amalgamating details from the client and accepting input from our team, we identify the target audience. Our time spent in the industry has seasoned us in scouting our market and making the right choice because targeting the wrong audience will reap zero results– even if you have a million subscribers. You will first need to conduct focused research to zero in on the right audience and knowing more about them; you need to assess the location they live in, their needs, and spending capacity before you make an investment to promote a product or service.

Focusing on the Most Crowded Platform

A CMO Council survey claims over 95% of brands prefer to tweet up to 6 tweets a day while they reply to at least one on a daily basis. However, many start-ups find it difficult to maintain this level of consistency and regularity, especially when they are finding it difficult to hire resources because of budgetary constraints. We therefore suggest you focus on unique platforms, be it Pinterest, Vine or Instagram where competition is less and the chances of gaining recognition is much higher, with the right content.

Hesitating to Experiment

Money and time alone do not make a social media marketing campaign successful. You need to innovate in order to make an impression with your social media strategy. The First Kiss video is an excellent example of creativity and experimentation being used to promote a brand through social media– unconventional is the name of the game.

We always try to come up with the craziest ideas, and in most cases we don’t hesitate to implement them. Social media is not a television station, but a vibrant community of people driven by passion and creativity, and this is what makes it such an unqualified success.

Isolating the Brand from their Page

A sequential tone of conduct should be maintained by the brand and the company throughout their channels. Avoid using a formal tone in your content and campaigns on your official website while switching to a friendly tone on Facebook or Twitter. It doesn’t work that way! Strategize your ideas and create a comprehensive cocoon with all the core values etched in. A strong brand integrity spread across all platforms, including your social media channels, leads to better recognition among customers.

Creative thinking and cohesive strategies coupled with strong adaptability lead to immense success in the ever changing world of social media. These core values drive us at TalenAlexander and we would be glad to have you onboard to envision the perfect campaign strategy for you.