SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS FROM OUR DIGITAL MARKETING AGENCY IN CORK
Whether you are a multinational or a small local enterprise, social media has become an essential tool in the modern business world. From increasing awareness of your product to developing a positive relationship with your customer base, spreading the word about events and creating a buzz around your latest offering, a strong social media presence is a key factor in your company’s success. At ePresence, an Award Winning Digital Marketing Agency in Cork and Kerry, we are experts in all things digital marketing. We see the same simple mistakes made repeatedly by those trying to improve their online profile. But we can help your business navigate the tricky realm of social media with ease. Here is our guide to the ten most common social media mistakes made by businesses, and how you can avoid them.
ePresence is a professional Digital Marketing Agency based in Cork that has helped many companies all over Ireland achieve their Social Media goals.
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1. NOT HAVING A SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN
Consistency is key in marketing, and nowhere more so than on social media. Rather than posting as and when you remember, having a proper schedule is really important. But not only do you need to post regularly, but you also need to ensure that your content has clear direction and relevance to your business. So how can you avoid a scattergun hit-and-hope strategy? Try:
- Curating a list of content ideas to avoid writer’s block
- Setting a content calendar for each month
- Creating a content bank of evergreen and seasonal content
- Rather than drift along, organise a specific monthly social media meeting with your team
2. NOT HAVING TIME FOR SOCIAL MEDIA
It can feel overwhelming to have to add social media to your already over-long To Do list. Many people struggle to find time to keep up with it. However, that is another reason to prioritise your organisation – see the previous point: scheduling and arranging a bank of content can really help. Social media is now such a key tool in your marketing arsenal that you cannot afford to ignore it. Here’s how to avoid giving up on social media through lack of time:
- Use scheduling tools like Buffer, Hootsuite and Later to bulk schedule content. Block time in your calendar to create and schedule content – make it part of your schedule rather than something you try and squeeze into spare time.
- Get someone else to do it. It should become part of someone’s formal role, not just an added extra. Give someone proper responsibility for social media management, so that they will be held accountable for it. However, don’t just abdicate responsibility – you need to be there for support and guidance. Treat social media as an important part of your team strategy, not an irritating side job.
- If social media still feels like an impossible task, you could consider outsourcing it. There are many excellent social media managers who will be able to organise your content and strategy. However, do be prepared to work alongside them to ensure they have the content they need to do their job.
3. NOT POSTING ANYTHING BECAUSE YOU ARE AFRAID OF DOING IT WRONG
We hear this one quite a bit, we call it social media imposter syndrome! But don’t worry. Nobody is analysing your posts in that much detail. It is better to post content that’s not quite perfect than not post anything at all. Avoid this problem by:
- Just doing it! Once you get into the rhythm of it, you’ll feel fine – it’s just about breaking that initial nervous block.
- Get help designing some templates that you are happy with and can edit yourself – look at online aids such as Canva for inspiration.
- Consider employing outside help. Once again a social media expert can give you a great boost to get you started in the online world.
4. NOT TRACKING PERFORMANCE ON SOCIAL PLATFORMS
As with any marketing strategy, it is key to measure your performance, in order to find out what works and improve what doesn’t. If you aren’t tracking performance then you are putting a lot of time and energy into a social media campaign that isn’t necessarily working as well as it should. To avoid this pitfall:
- Set some key performance indicators (KPIs) and track them monthly. Key performance indicators are targets that help you measure progress against your most strategic objectives. By tracking these targets, comparing your success month by month, and in time, year by year, you will be able to constantly adjust your social media strategy to ensure you are getting the best from it, and continually growing your online presence.
- Be careful which metrics you choose to track. Don’t overly focus on vanity numbers such as likes. Anyone can run a competition and get a huge amount of likes, getting their friends and families to like and share their page – but ask yourself honestly if this is really helping your business.
5. BEING OVERLY SALES FOCUSED
Have you ever been at a party and got stuck talking to an awful bore who will only go on about themselves and how great they are? That’s generally not a person you want to spend much time with, and the same applies to social media – don’t be that bore online! If all you post about is your product or service then people won’t be very interested and are unlikely to engage with your content. Avoid this by:
- Mixing up your content. Aim for roughly an 80:20 ratio, where 80% of the time you are posting interesting and informative content around your subject area, and only 20% of the time are you doing sales posts. So, if you are posting 5 times a week, 4 of these should be aimed at engagement – educational or witty, inviting discussion and participation from your audience. Your 5th post can be your sales pitch. Using a content calendar and planning your posts will make this much easier to put into practice.
6. NOT TALKING TO YOUR CUSTOMERS
This might seem like a mad one but a lot of companies don’t take enough time to think about who their customers are, what they are looking for, and how they can help them. The valuable social media engagement you are looking for only comes when the conversation becomes two-way, and your customers feel seen and understood by your business. Avoid this lack of real communication by:
- Creating buyer personas using a tool such as Hubspot persona generator that you can refer back to.
- Use your content calendar to tie everything in – with each post consider, who are you aiming this at.
7. NOT ADVERTISING ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Over the last few years the social media ecosystem has evolved dramatically, and we are now in the era of 0% organic social media. An organic post (meaning one that you have not paid to advertise or boost) on Facebook is said to reach around 6% of your audience. The reach of your posts will be severely limited by the Facebook algorithm, as Facebook’s goal is to make money by charging you to advertise. This means it is necessary to invest in your social media campaigns in order to give them the best impact. However, you need to be strategic about this – negotiate this problem by:
- Keeping track of your performance. If one of your posts is doing well on social media, then give it a boost.
- Set aside a monthly advertising budget and identify the most important things to push for the month.
8. NOT HAVING A SOCIAL MEDIA CULTURE
While it may be one person’s overall responsibility in your organisation to look after social media, they can’t do it all on their own. The best content feels natural and is created on the go – quick snaps were taken on a team outing or a video of colleagues celebrating their latest success. It can be very frustrating for the person whose job it is to document these things if they get a kickback from others who aren’t willing to help them create the content. It can feel awkward, to begin with, to have to pose for shots and give a window into previously private situations, but the whole team needs to adopt a positive attitude towards these efforts and take it seriously as a fundamental part of modern marketing. Avoid this negative culture by:
- Culture starts from the top. Managers need to constantly communicate the importance of social media to team members, be willing to take part themselves and encourage everyone to get involved. The best social media accounts by businesses are those where the whole team helps, therefore creating diverse and interesting content that truly reflects the company.
9. NOT BEING REACTIVE ENOUGH
The social media world is constantly changing and evolving. It is essential to stay on top of the current trends and utilise new tools, in order to stay relevant and engaging. Avoid getting behind by:
- Staying on top of current trends. Sign up for digital marketing agency newsletters, read articles and take tutorials put out by social media companies (for instance, Facebook’s Meta for Business). Get creative with new functionalities (for instance, making reels on Instagram).
- Set Google alerts for phrases that are important to your company. This way you’ll always stay on top of the news, reacting and creating content based on what is relevant today.
- Being switched on and recognising opportunities – stay open-minded and be prepared to try new things out.
10. NOT HAVING A CONSISTENT OR APPROPRIATE TONE OF VOICE FOR YOUR BRAND
As we said at the start, consistency is key. But not just for the amount of posting you do – it’s also important that you develop an appropriate tone of voice for your brand. People expect witticisms from something that puts itself across as ‘fun’ – foods aimed at kids for instance. But nobody wants a funny solicitor – they want a confident, calm, and intelligent brand that they feel secure confiding in. How to avoid taking the wrong tone in your posts:
- Establish your brand archetype – brainstorm the qualities that fit your brand. Make a list of those that don’t. Choose 1 or 2 key qualities and check every post against your lists.
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DO YOU NEED HELP WITH YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE?
For expert marketing advice, get in touch with ePresence Digital Marketing today. We are a digital marketing agency based in Cork and Kerry, Ireland, and our friendly team of experts can make your online marketing work for you. From curating your online profiles to driving your website’s SEO, from establishing your target audience and setting KPIs to monitoring your online performance, ePresence has the solutions. If you are looking to expand your business, reach more customers, and improve the impact of your marketing, ePresence can help. Get in touch with us today at +353 (0)21 2362901 or email us at info@epresence.ie.
