06.20.16

4 Things Businesses Should NEVER Do With Social Media

Businesses are highly encouraged to get involved in social media marketing to help attract more customers. It allows you to enhance your visibility across the Internet. Depending on your budget, it can be done organically or with paid social media marketing efforts. Beware, this new responsibility comes with its own set of rules, and there are things you should know:

Never Use Irrelevant Hashtags

Hashtags are more important than ever, especially when it comes to organic social media. While you are trying to reach out to a greater audience, it’s crucial to only use hashtags that are relevant to your industry or content being published. For example, a plumber should not incorporate hashtags about a trending music artist in a post that’s actually about clogged drains. Users will only see your posts as spam.

Never Sell vs. Being Social

While you want to grow your business, social media is all about being social. Users are not following business pages so they can read a million sales pitches. They want entertainment and education. Talk about how fun your business is and share different culture aspects to engage customers.

Never Post Too Much

Your business is fascinating and you have a lot to talk about, but be careful to not post too much at once. Posting too much can annoy users and cause them to unfollow your accounts. Facebook has convenient scheduling features and there are also free apps, like HootSuite, that can help schedule posts out in advance on other social media channels.

Never Post Without a Plan

This is one of the most common issues businesses encounter on social media. Create a strategy and plan out types of content you want to share online beforehand. This will prevent you from missing out on major holiday announcements, upcoming sales, and milestones. It also helps you brainstorm new and creative ideas while you plan out your goals.