Social media marketing is the active or passive use of social media platforms and websites to promote content. Most of us have shared our pictures, blog posts and thoughts on social media, not knowing that we are slowly marketing ourselves to the millions of people out there. The more we post, the more people view our content and slowly by slowly, we build and grow our audience. Some of us have mastered the art of social media marketing and are already ripping the fruits but a large number still struggle with it. While we have good content, there may be something that we are doing wrong.
The following are the dos and don’ts of social media marketing.
DO’s
- Engage your users. Once you post and they comment, be sure to reply to their queries. It helps when your readers know that you find time to listen to and engage with them.
- Post at a regular interval. It helps your readers to know when they should expect your next post. That way they won’t get bored waiting for your post and abandon your blog to move on others.
- Talk about trending topics that go in line with what you write about. Be in the know in what goes on in your area of specialization. If you blog about technology, be aware of the new techs in the market and their specs.
- Keep up with the social media trends. It gives you an advantage over your competitors.
- Keep brand name across all your social media platforms. It makes you accessible, especially in Search Engine Optimization.
- Regularly update your profile information.
- Share links that relate to your area of specialization.
- Keep an eye on your competitors and their strategies.
- Add humor and personal touches in your updated once in a while. It helps in taking away some of the seriousness that comes with social media marketing especially if you have a reputation to maintain.
Don’ts
- Avoid too much self-promotion. It is otherwise called spamming. Most people find spam emails annoying and would most probably delete them without reading.
- Do not ignore feedback or comments. Acknowledge all of them and if possible reply to all of them.
- Avoid buying fans and users.
- Never fight or insult your fans. In the language of sales, the customer is always right. In this case, your readers are always right. If they say something inappropriate, be sure to correct them politely. If it too much, ignore them.
- Do not spend too much time on the social media sites.
- Do not post or update while intoxicated. Most people regret the stuff they do while intoxicated. Ensure that you are in the correct frame of mind before posting a picture or writing a post. That way, you are sure that whatever you put out there for potential employers to see is in line with what your brand stands for.
Social media is a very important tool and there are many ways you can market yourself online. Don’t pass up the opportunity to make your brand great.