3 Mistakes Organizations Make with Social Media

For an average Joe, social media is a platform to connect with friends, catch up with relatives, and stalk the prospective employer you so desperately want to join. However, for a company, social media means a lot more – branding, marketing, clients, profits! In their unequivocal attempt to maximize the returns from a social media campaign, most organizations forget one primary rule – social media isn’t a backyard for dumping offers, promotions, or advertisements; it’s a double-edged sword that can hurt your branding if used carelessly.

So, what separates good social media etiquettes from wannabe efforts to use social media, just because everyone else is using it? Well, a lot. Let me take you through the 3 sins of corporate social media campaigns, and how to sidestep them.

• Everyone in the audience is a prospective client –
  No, they aren’t. For a neophyte social media marketer, the audience comprises prospective clients, people that need just the right push for getting onboard the wagon. That couldn’t be further from truth. Tilt the perspective by 180 degrees and see the audience as people you want to collaborate with. Consider your friends and followers as people you are just interacting with, and time and again, slip something about that product you want to sell subtly. That, my dear friend, is how you market on social media, without marketing.
  
  
• The audience wants to know about your products and offerings –
  That’s true, but only to some extent. Most people in your audience are following\liking you because they have had a good experience dealing with your organization. They want to know what your company believes in, what ideals you believe in, whether you have anything interesting to share that interests them, how is the place for working etc. Time and again, they want to be informed about products, offers and more, but not all the time. A good mix is what’s needed here.
  
  
• They expect a unidirectional flow of information –
  It’s actually the opposite. Your audience expects you to respond to them, communicate with them, and act and behave just like any other friend they have on the social media. If they have some concerns and are posting on your social page, they expect to be heard. If they have some doubts about your services, they expect the social channel to be a spot for clarification. They are not just here for a deluge for discounts, new product launches, or products, they are here for an experience and it is the onus of the social media to provide them the experience.

Your social media is a reflection of your brand, and a lax, perfunctory attitude towards your audience is only going to tarnish whatever image your brand presents in the market. However, avoid the top 3 sins of social media marketing, and you have a powerful weapon at your disposal that can build your brand image in a matter of months.