5 Social Media Marketing Mistakes You Need to Avoid

By Adam  |  31 Oct 2016 12:00:00

Social marketing is a great tool to market businesses and advertise products or services. With careful use, it can help emphasis your brand image and identity which in turn will interest your preferred audience. However, if social marketing is used incorrectly it can turn your brand's reputation into an embarrassing disaster. Start using social media effectively by avoiding these 5 social marketing mistakes.

1) Overdoing the voice

In social media, it is important for a brand to decide on their business 'voice'. Is the target market young and interested in keeping with the latest trends? In that case, the business 'voice' needs to sound both young and trendy. But take note, consumers will notice very quickly if your brand is not being authentic. By overdoing the 'voice', your brand identity will seem desperate and will repel the target market. It also frustrates customers who want to sort out their problems with shipping or who need support troubleshooting their issues, especially if they receive an emoticon at the end of the message. You'd be surprised about how many customers complain about this!

2) Too much retweeting

Twitter is a valid and useful marketing tool, especially if used correctly. However many businesses, especially small artisan businesses tend to overdo their retweets. You can find inexperienced Twitter accounts retweeting old and expired tweets and even retweeting products from other businesses. A social media account should be flooded with the products or service that the businesses connected to that social media account sells.

3) Inappropriate statuses

Think again if you want to make a political statement on any social media outlet. While it can occasionally work in your favour if you know your target audience very well, inappropriate statuses such as political statements can exclude and repel potential customers. Inappropriate statuses have been shared through hairdressers to artisans to IT services, all of which has potentially damaged their reputation and standing with consumers.

4) #Toomany #hastags

Hashtags are useful but don't overdo it. Good social media management doesn't need to desperately cling on to hashtags to advertise their product or service and direct the target market to the business market. Be wise and use only occasional hashtags that are appropriate to the business.

5) Spelling and grammar mistakes

Isn't spell check useful? Yet businesses seem to forget to double check their tweets, statuses and even the text on their adverts from time to time. Avoid this terribly awkward mistake, as poor grammar and spelling will turn away your customers.