10.5 SOCIAL MEDIA MISTAKESAND HOW TO AVOID THEM....

MISTAKE #1“Not knowing the importance

of brevity.”

SOLUTION: WRITE LESS AND SAY MORE

Keep your posts short and to the point. Your followers lead busy lives & don’t have the time to read a monologue.

MISTAKE #2“Not proofreading before you

post someting.”

SOLUTION: CHECK, THEN CHECK AGAIN

Spelling mistakes and grammar errors will damage your reputation and can lead to your followers not taking you seriously.

MISTAKE #3“Posting a status in the heat

of the moment.”

SOLUTION: TAKE TIME OUT The person in charge of your social media site

should be calm and collected at all times when posting a status or response to a comment.

MISTAKE #4“#Using #Too #Many

#Hashtags On #Twitter.”

SOLUTION: USE LESS HASHTAGS A hashtag is simply a way for people to search for

tweets that have a common topic. Use it properly to demonstrate that you are a social media guru!

MISTAKE #5“Missing the value of visual

imagery.”

SOLUTION: PUT PICTURES IN YOUR POSTS People often say - “A picture paints a thousand

words.” Make sure you often include images with your posts to catch the eye of your followers and reinforce meaning.

E.g Today is “World Book Day” and we want all parents to join the fun and read a book to their child tonight!

MISTAKE #6“Badmouthing your

competitors.”

SOLUTION: FOCUS ON YOUR STRENGTHS Keep your dignity and reputation as a business in

tact – try to not fall into the trap of making negative comments about what your competitors are doing wrong. Instead, shout to your followers about what you are doing right!

MISTAKE #7“Ignoring chances for social

engagement with your followers.”

SOLUTION: INVITE PARTICIPATION Use all opportunities to engage with your audience,

as this will arouse their interest and enhance the popularity of your social media site.

Examples: If you find an interesting story to post on your site,

ask your followers what they think.

If it’s a bank holiday, ask your followers to share what they have planned with their children.

MISTAKE #8“Sweeping negative

comments under the rug.”

SOLUTION: DON’T PLAY IGNORANT Use all negative comments posted on your feed as

a way of demonstrating to your other followers that you are professional and care about resolving any issues with your service.

See http://www.parenta.com/2014/05/07/5-ways-to-deal-with-negative-online-comments/ for more advice on what to do.

MISTAKE #9“Starting a tweet with an

@mention.”

SOLUTION: USE A FULL STOP When replying to people, you can transform a reply

to a mention by starting your tweets with a full stop, for example

.@Kitkat thanks for your comments about our open day, we loved showcasing the nursery to everyone and believe it was a great success.

This allows you to share your responses and suggestions with followers, rather than limiting who can see the post to just a few people.

MISTAKE #10“Not measuring the impact of

your social media tools.”

SOLUTION: ANALYSE YOUR WORK To find out what is really turning people’s attention

to your site, use tools such as Hubspot and Google Analytics to see what articles and posts have worked well.

MISTAKE #10.5“Creating a social media page then neglecting it.”

SOLUTION: UPDATE YOUR ACCOUNT OFTEN Nobody is expecting you to update your social

media account every day, it goes without saying you will simply not have the time.

However, no one will want to follow a page which hasn’t been updated for several months as it will be little use to them...so get the balance right!

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