Personality goes a long way

We all have our characters, and these tend to shine through when we communicate with others. The same thing, largely, applies to our social media presence, no matter whether they’re personal or business accounts.
The best social media profiles are just like Mr or Ms popular. They manage to convey an aura of positive energy to the people around them. They create a sense of awe and envy, without being condescending or overbearing. Everybody wants a part of them, or at least to be associated with them.

Be entertaining or interesting

Good social media profiles also have another thing going for them. They are interesting, entertaining or, in certain cases, both. Hit the right balance between being interesting and entertaining and you can be assured that you’ll be a massive hit. John Oliver, for example, manages this perfectly.

If you can’t be interesting or entertaining, then offer value

“But, but…” I can already hear you protesting. How can I be entertaining or interesting if I’m selling something that is essentially boring?
Well, there’s a third factor that can help you out. Offer value. Entertainment and interest are both of immense value, but look at pages like Deal or Deal Today, which are essentially uninteresting and definitely not entertaining. They manage to generate a hell of a lot of good will by offering value to their followers.
And let’s face it. If you’re running a business that needs a Facebook page that can’t be either interesting, entertaining or offers value, then you seriously need to rethink your line of business (or your channel of communication).
Speaking of which, we need to make sure to:

Choose the right medium

Not all channels are created equal. There is no absolute right or wrong social media to choose. For our local readers, Facebook might be the default network to work with since Malta is somewhat obsessed with it, and nothing else. However you should always consider all other options, especially since local usage is growing in other networks and very few businesses are tapping into them.

So where do I start?

So where does this leave us? What should I do if I’m just starting off with my social media efforts?
I’d personally tell any clients I have to start by testing the waters and trying to get a feel for the kind of response you’re getting.

Be human

Post to your business’ page as if you were posting for yourself. See it as a natural extension of your brand, no matter how well defined it is. Always ask yourself whether you would have said what you’re about to type out to a client who just walked into your physical store.
I don’t think you greet people by shouting “SALAMI SANDWICHES – 2.50” in their face when they walk into your restaurant in the morning. But you might tell them something along the lines of: “Good morning, how’s your day? Our special of the day is the salami sandwich.” Do the same with your Facebook page.

A couple of the eateries around our office (Dobbin’s and Karrot & Ko), in fact, have got this to a tee – they both do a good job of informing their clients what they’re preparing on the day, and I realise that they’ve managed to keep us all coming back to their pages on a daily basis.
They do it by writing friendly posts that are also informative (knowing what food’s available to me is very valuable information). They have also understood how important it is to:

Be punctual

I remember the first few weeks Dobbin’s opened, they’d post their lunch menu and photos at about midday. By then we’d have already been too hungry. We’d have checked out Karrot (or some other places in the vicinity) and ordered food elsewhere.
Timing is not always crucial, but when it is, it just is. Don’t post all your Christmas offers on the 24th of December. Everybody would have bought their presents by then.

It ain’t easy

Also understand that if you might have to have to wait quite a bit before you start seeing concrete results. Building a relationship with your customers will take a fair amount of time – and you can only achieve this by doing a good job of it, consistently.
If you want to help yourself shortcut the process, then you need to be prepared to spend a bit of money. Because there’s a big misconception about social media marketing, but trust me:

It ain’t free

Be prepared to spend some money on growing your online presence. The absolute least you can spend on Facebook is a € (or a $) a day. If your business can’t afford €30/month, then, once again, you probably should not be in business.
Put some marketing budget into your Facebook page and you will immediately start seeing much better results. Good results bring better reach, and better reach brings better results. See what we did there? We created a vicious cycle. Spend more, get more of the free stuff in return too!

And in the end…

This is the end of this very short primer to social media marketing. What do you think? Are you ready to up your game? What do you find hardest (or easiest) about your social presence?
Get serious about your social media marketing, or at least get someone to take it seriously for you. We always tell our clients that we’d prefer it if they’d handle their own social media accounts, but if you don’t know where to start from or if you just don’t have the time and/or expertise to do it yourself – then just drop us a line and we’ll be glad to help you out!

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1. Automation

You have everything linked up and your Facebook posts go directly to Twitter. This means that most times your tweets are incomplete because the original Facebook post is too long. What’s more is that you’ve got the exact same content on every social media platform – so what’s the point of having different social media platforms? Remember- different platforms, different audiences.

2. #Noonecanunderstandyourridiculoushashtags

Enough said.

3. Yr posts lk smthng like this

Just because you’ve got a limited amount of characters to use it doesn’t mean you’re allowed to murder syntax and grammar! Master the art of being concise while still being precise.

4. You’ve forgotten your manners

Be nice to people, show them you care by replying when they retweet something you posted, or even thanking them for following you. A little bit of courtesy can go a long way!

5. You don’t think before you jump

Don’t jump onto the bandwagon, or latest trend, without firstly checking out what it’s all about – you could end up being in a very awkward situation.
We all remember the DiGiorno incident

6. You mix up accounts

If you’re using a platform that allows you to manage multiple accounts, or have access to your company’s twitter page be careful not to mix up accounts. You don’t want to be posting something highly personal on your business’ page!

7. Keep tabs on who can tweet

You’ve given the account details to so many people at work that you can’t keep track of who has access to the account. This could end badly if someone decides to go rouge after a dispute.

8. You spam

Twitter is great because there’s so much going on that people’s feeds are constantly updated. This means you can post at a higher frequency. That, however doesn’t mean you can’t be considered as spammy.
Posting 20 posts within 20seconds will make you look desperate, inconsistent, and annoying. Plan tweets and schedule them so that you’re tweeting throughout the day.

9. You’re needy

You follow hundreds of people in the hopes that they’ll follow you back and constantly ask people to follow you. Stop!
Create a strategy- interact with people and produce good content and soon they’ll be coming to you.

10. You forget the whole world is watching

The chances are that you’ll produce great content which goes relatively unnoticed. But as soon as you make one mistake suddenly all eyes are on you. Remember that people have lost their jobs, had their lives ruined, or lost all business credibility. Check out the story about Justine Sacco for a clear example.The world is watching and people loves drama – so watch out!
There you go – it really is THAT simple to avoid these mistakes. So go back out there and start working on your strategy. Of course, we’re always happy to help so why not subscribe to our newsletter or pop over for a coffee?

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1. Your page lacks information

If you want to be of service then you’ve got to provide as much information as possible. Some pages don’t even give their opening hours so be sure to fill out all the necessary details.

2. Your branding is all over the place

Your profile image is a sleek version of your logo, but your cover photo looks like it came out of the 1980s. You’ve got a kaleidoscope of colours and your page screams chaos. Restore some harmony to your page and apply brand guidelines that will show unity across everything you do.

3. You’ve abandoned your page

This is probably one of the worst things you can do. Don’t start a page only to neglect it after a while. Posts shouldn’t be sporadic, and should follow some sort of regular structure. If people visit your page and see your last post was 3 weeks ago they won’t be very impressed.

4. You use Facebook like a billboard

Okay, so we know we told you not to neglect your page, but that doesn’t mean you should use it as a billboard. Don’t blast your followers with “SPECIAL OFFER ONE TIME ONLY”- this isn’t a market stall. Keep it savvy and engaging, entice your audience and interact with them instead of trying to force sales onto them.

5. Your images are never the right dimensions

Dimensions exist for a reason. A simple Google search will show you that there are dimensions for a profile picture, a cover photo, a Facebook post, a Facebook advert, and an event cover. Stick to the dimensions when creating media to be shared on your page so that everything has a professional look. Don’t use images with low quality and be creative!

(Image source: makeawebsitehub)

6. You’re not communicating

People post to your page but you don’t even acknowledge them, they might as well be talking to a wall (no pun intended!). Interact with your followers and show them you value their input and feedback.

7. You forget you’re a business

We love pages that interact with their customers and followers, but always keep in mind that at the end of the day you’re a business and a certain sense of decorum is required, especially since you represent a brand.

8. You’ve automated too many things

Automation can be handy – especially when you link different social media platforms. But more often than not it can cause some problems. If all of your posts are automated then you risk sounding like a robot. Different social media platforms have different audiences, so automating your Facebook posts to post to Twitter might be a good temporary fix to a neglected Twitter account, but isn’t a long term solution.

9. You’re not paying attention to your insights

Facebook insights provide a great deal of information for your business. If you haven’t checked them out yet then it’s high time you do. You’ll learn about your audience, which posts are the most successful, and can analyse any spikes in page likes in order to link these with any particular efforts you carried out.

10. You think Facebook advertising is as simple as pressing “boost”

We recently published the first in a series of blog posts which will provide valuable information on online advertising. There’s more to marketing than just pressing boost. Familiarise yourself with the different ways you can use Facebook, would it be better to pay for impressions or for clicks? What’s the reason behind boosting your post, and what’s your ROI?

The post Are you making these 10 Facebook marketing mistakes? appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

1. The planning stage

The first and most important thing is to carefully plan your Facebook page. Don’t create a page during a whirlwind of inspiration only to abandon it after a while because you’re not sure of what to do with it.
Before you get started you’ll need the following :

– A well-designed eye catching logo and cover photo which are the right dimensions.

– Brand guidelines with a clear outline of what will be posted, the tone used, and even the type of colours or images to include.

– Knowledge of your audience – what kind of posts would interest them? Work around your audience’s needs.

– A clear ‘about’ section and contact details

2. Own It.

Someone needs to be responsible for the page, this person will be accountable for what goes on and will be the go to person should anything happen. Having one person dedicated to the page means there will be less confusion and more consistency.

3. Build your following

You can now start building your following. Of course the first people to go to would be friends and family, encourage them to like the page as a show of support. You could consider an official launch in order to spread the word. Encourage colleagues to share the page, and also list it as their place of employment – bringing them in on the process will boost company morale!

4. Create Connections

Use your page to like other companies with similar aims. Just make sure you’re liking from your page and not from your personal profile.
To do this go to your newsfeed and click on the tiny arrow near the security options and select your page.
Liking other businesses through your post will improve your connections (as they might like you back) and will also keep your newsfeed up to date with what other businesses are up to.

 5. Boost your page

You might consider investing some money into your Facebook page by boosting it. Facebook allows you to promote your page, targeting specific audiences and allowing the ad to run for a specific period of time.
However if you’re going to spend money, do it wisely. It’s best to consult someone who knows the ins and outs of Facebook and can direct you to the best kind of advertising strategy so that your investment will reap tangible rewards.

6. Quality over quantity

It’s useless having 10,000 likes on Facebook if your post engagement is low. Work towards having high engagement on posts since this builds your brand and builds your relationship with followers. It’s far better to communicate with a few who care, than to shout out to thousands and get hardly any response!

7. Humour is your best weapon!

People generally react more to things which make them laugh and put a smile on their face. Use witty and cheeky humour in your posts to give your content life and show your fun side! Just because it’s business it doesn’t mean it has to be boring.

8. Facebook is not a catalogue

We keep saying it but yet it still happens. Facebook shouldn’t be used to advertise products the way you’d advertise in a magazine. Be creative with posts about products or services and market yourself in a way that makes people warm to your brand.

9. No one likes a Drama Queen

Handle complaints properly. Remember to always be polite and courteous. Offer to call the person up to resolve the issue over the phone, and never delete someone’s comment!
Don’t forget about the Big Brother nature of Social Media. When commenting online there could be a hundred people following the thread, reading everyone’s replies, you wouldn’t want to make any negative impressions!

10. Post sensibly

Once you’ve figured out what kind of posts to put up, you can move on to planning out a schedule. Be consistent with your work, but be willing to learn from your audience and adapt to what they like. It’s great to have a brand identity, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t grow!

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