The Top 2 Mistakes That Kill Most Social Media Marketing Campaigns

Social media marketing (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) is one of the hottest trends in online marketing. Companies of all sizes and in all industries are using Twitter to engage with their audience and to promote their brand.  But many of these companies are inexperienced in social media marketing and don’t use it properly, which undermines their ultimate goal of increasing leads and sales.

Not only can a poorly designed social media marketing campaign be ineffective, it can damage your brand and drive away customers.  Just ask Walmart, Ford and KFC who all had major online marketing blunders that cost them.

There are 2 MAJOR common social media marketing mistakes we see.

1. Trying to sell online

This is very hard for most companies and people to understand. I’ll make it simple for you – Don’t Try To Sell Your Product/Service On Social Media Sites!! – period, end of story.  Why, you ask? Social media is often likened to a party; the same etiquette used at an offline event should be followed online.  If I walked into your party and immediately started trying to sell you things, you would make an excuse to leave. Everyone would talk about me negatively behind my back. I might not be invited to other events and likely wouldn’t make a single sell.  Guess what – the same thing happens online too.

The #1 question we get is, “So when do I promote my __________?”  You don’t. You drive your followers/friends to your website or landing page. Your website is your money site.

You should only send sales messages to people that have specifically opted in for them.  An example would be sending an exclusive discount offer as a special gift to fans on your Facebook fan page. But notice, I framed it as a “special gift” for being our fan. Not a blatant, mass sales pitch.

2. Not engaging with people

Another concept that’s hard for people to follow is that social media is for one-on-one or many-to-many engagement. To use social media effectively, you must create a two-way communication with people.  A real discussion.

That means listening and interacting with people instead of broadcasting one way marketing messages.

One way to engage your followers is to give them free, credible information (not just yours).  For example, if you own a flower shop,  you could send out notices when it’s time to replant certain flowers or plants. Your followers, who are likely flower/plant lovers, will be grateful that you provided this information. They may even send you a message asking a few questions on what type of soil they should use. So, you respond with the answer and maybe a brief sentence or two letting them know that you carry that brand of soil in your store and they can go to your website to get more detailed information on the product.

This kind of customer engagement builds brand loyalty and repeat customers which is what it’s all about from a business standpoint.

So before you begin a social media marketing campaign, develop a strategy about HOW you plan to engage with people and your customers.

You should also have a sales funnel designed and ready to go BEFORE implementing any campaign. However, that’s another subject we’ll have to cover in a future posts.

Have you ever committed these mistakes? Leave a comment and let us know what you think by clicking on the “Comments” link below.

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