1. You Chose the Wrong Channels
You’ve seen the stats on Facebook and Myspace. They are huge. There is massive reach the size of google. This market report by W3Techs shows how level a lot of these social media sites are with the search giant- Google.
This does not mean if you create a social media page for Chevy, everyone will be their friend and buy more cars. There is a HUGE disconnect between wanting to USE social media for marketing, and embracing it for better communication with customers.
You have to choose your social media channels by finding where the customers who want to talk about your company are exisiting.
2. You Used the Wrong People
Just because your web designer used Twitter once and had a Myspace profile from day one, does not mean that he understands how to market on social media.
If you’re using the wrong people you’re toast. Firstly, it helps to find someone who’s actually DONE what you’re trying to do. Yes, they may be more expensive, but you won’t pay for the service two or three times learning these same lessons only to fail again..
3. Your Content Sucked
You wrote a post on “top 10 list”. Well so did 3 million other sites. It wasn’t entertaining or resourceful, and you forgot to use even a single link baiting hook.
Even the best social media promoters out there won’t be able to promote pure crap. Spend some time and do your research. Take that idea and make it three times better.
Then well, edit it some more.
4. You Didn’t Execute
One of the major reasons social media campaigns fail is because of POOR EXECUTION! You have done a fabulous job getting people to your website but you forgot to prepare your website for their visit!
There are cases of web servers nearly melting and they just wouldn’t serve pages. Half of the people trying to access your site had ridiculous load times or never saw the content at all.
Here’s what you need to do. Fire your network administrator, because there’s no excuse for downtime. Find someone who understands apache a bit better. Cache your site, make sure all cylinders are a go and PRACTICE.
5. You Forgot about Search
You built a site for social media. You pander to the audience and gave the fickle crowd what they want, but forgot to create sustainable content around topics that are of interest to someone who is actively looking to buy from you.
You need someone who understands social media marketing and other forms of search engine marketing to develop a comprehensive strategy for your online marketing efforts
6. You don’t use high-quality, compelling photos.
Photos are your most valuable asset on social media. Facebook posts that include photos have a significantly higher level of engagement as shown by this research.
Twitter just recently started displaying photos within the stream. Pinterest, a photo-centric social media app, continues to grow in popularity and drive traffic to company websites.
However, as valuable as photos can be to your social media efforts, the wrong photos can damage your efforts. Poor quality photos don’t reflect well on your brand. Your photos should tell a story, inform, and inspire actions.
7. You have no calls to action (CTA).
There is a false, maliciously-spread belief claiming social media is only good for brand awareness, and does not translate into revenue.
This belief is no more than a self-fulfilling prophecy, which only proves true when social media efforts fail to make any calls to action. The tricky part: Calls to action need to provide value for your followers, and should only be posted once you have developed a trusting relationship with your followers.
Awareness and engagement should still be the primary focus of your social media, but be sure to give your followers the opportunity to take the relationship a step further.
8. You haven’t defined your audience.
How well do you know the people who typically support your organization? Where are they coming from? What drives them to donate or volunteer? Are they parents or young couples? Where do they get their entertainment? What is their income level? Do they like playing sports?
The better you can define the common interests of your supporters, the easier it will be to create a voice and content supporters can relate to. Without knowing these details, your content may be falling on deaf ears.
9. You Fail to Measure
What’s working? What’s not? If you do not track key metrics of your social media efforts, you are wasting time and money, moreover, you are failing to capitalize on key opportunities.
Go beyond how many likes and shares a post generates. Look at click-through rates, mentions, profile visits, and impressions. Tools like Hootsuite can help you track these. Doing so enables you tweak your strategy and really connect with your audience when, where, and how they prefer.
10. You’re not integrating other marketing efforts.
Social media gives your supporters a two-way dialog and a way to develop a true relationship with your brand. However, they need to know where to find you.
When supporters visit your website, will they see prominent social media links to all your active channels? Are you leveraging Facebook tabs and Twitter’s Lead Generation tool to capture emails? Do your email campaigns lead your subscribers back to online conversations? The more integrated your separate marketing efforts, the more successful each effort will be.
If you are “guilty” of one or more of these ten mistakes, it is time to reevaluate your strategy and look into social media marketing services. Social media has the power, and the enormous user ship, to take your brand to new heights – or to sentence it to stagnation. Success requires more than popularity; it’s the value that you can demonstrate and provide to followers.
Which of these social media mistakes have you made?
