So, you want to be active on social media and engage with current and potential clients? Great! Social media is a great place to establish yourself as an industry expert and gain a leg up on the competition. However, there are a few mistakes that business owners often make that can be easily avoided. Check out our Top 6 Social Media Mistakes to Avoid as a Business Owner below.
Top 6 Social Media Mistakes to Avoid as a Business Owner:
Mistake #1: Not Keeping Your Personal and Business Pages Separate
No matter which social media platform you are on, you will want to keep your personal profile separate from your business’. How would you feel if one of your friends on social media suddenly started exclusively posting about their business on your social media feed? You didn’t sign up for that! Crossing the streams creates confusion (and even worse, frustration) for those who didn’t “sign up” for your business’ updates. So, create a profile specifically for your business, and create a space for those who are interested in your services to learn more, stay updated, and to reach out to you.
Mistake #2: Not Giving People a Reason to Follow You
If you’re currently on social media for personal use, think about what pages you follow and why. One of the most important things when building a social media presence in any industry is to create content that has value. The value of a post can come from it being entertaining, funny, informative, etc. So, when you make a post, ask yourself “what is someone gaining from this post.” If you can’t easily answer that question, time to rework the post or brainstorm another one.
Mistake #3: Irrelevant Content
Yes, you have the cutest cat the world has ever seen, but your client who is looking to order 3,000 custom hats isn’t interested in a photo of your cat. When deciding on what content you want to post, make sure that the content is relevant to what you’re selling. You also want to make sure your content is unique and offers value to your clients. Going back to the cat example, what if you put a hat on the cat? Or show what a photo of your cat would look like on a shirt? There are infinite amounts of ways you can make your content interesting. You’re only limited by your imagination!
Mistake #4: Not Staying Active
Before you start creating profiles on every social media platform you know of, ask yourself – “do I have the time to manage all of these accounts?” We recommend posting at least 2-3 times a week on each platform to keep your account active. Quality is always better than quantity when it comes to social media posts, and if you’re overwhelmed managing several accounts, there will inevitably be a loss in quality. If you’re just starting social media, start with one or two social media platforms that you’re familiar with, and work up from there.
Mistake #5: Low Quality Photos
If you want to stand out from the crowd, you want to make sure that the photos you use are unique and high quality. Nothing says “unprofessional” like a low-resolution, watermarked photo. Many of our manufacturers provide high-resolution photos that you can use in your social media marketing. If you really want to take it to the next level, take some of the products and snap your own photos! That way, you’ll know that no other person selling that product will have the same photos as you. Again, you are only limited by your imagination!
Mistake #6: Not Communicating
Social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn offer amazing technology that you can utilize to reach current and potential customers, but they’re not going to do all the work for you. You need to check your social media and least once or twice daily to ensure that you’re not missing out on a sale or question from a potential client. Millions of conversations happen daily on social media, and there are infinite opportunities for you to insert yourself into conversations and establish yourself as the expert in your field. You can’t do that if you’re not actively checking your social media accounts.
If you’re interested in learning more about social media, check out our social media series on our blog!