How to Avoid an Annoying Social Media Strategy|

Social media is a powerful (and fun!) tool. Businesses that make use of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have the ability to connect with customers from all over the country – and the globe – instantly, thus creating opportunities for developing personal relationships and strong brand loyalty. Of course, there are those companies that haven’t quite figured out how to use social media without being, well, annoying. So, how can you tell if your social media account is benefiting you and your customers or if it’s annoying your audience? How can you stop being annoying and start driving sales? Here are a few tips on what NOT to do on social media.

DON’T #1: Posting Fake News

There is nothing more annoying than a social media friend who constantly posts and shares “factual” statistics, information, or content that is completely bogus. These days, it’s pretty easy to quickly fact-check something before posting it to your site, so take a few seconds to make sure that everything you share is true and accurate. Fact-checking is one of the simplest ways to keep your audience from getting annoyed and to protect your reputation as a credible source of information.

DON’T #2: Over-posting

It’s important to post new content to your social media account regularly and frequently, but that doesn’t mean that you should be updating your status constantly. Get to know when the best times for posting to your audience are and optimize for these times on specific days of the week.

DON’T #3: Talking About Nothing

“Seinfeld” may have been successful as the “show about nothing,” but your brand isn’t going to be successful if you’ve got the social media account about nothing. Make sure that when you do post, your information is relevant and useful – not just fluff or filler. Remember the Golden Rule of Social Media: If you don’t have anything interesting to say, don’t say anything at all!

DON’T #4: Constantly Tooting Your Own Horn

Sure, social media is a marketing tactic, but that doesn’t mean that everything you say has to be self-serving. When every post you make is self-promotional, people will get sick of you and will unfollow your brand. After all, users don’t want to be friends with ads, they want to be friends with brands that have unique personalities and something special to offer. As a general rule of thumb, only 20 percent of your social media content should be specifically about your business. The rest of your time on social media should be dedicated to building strong relationships with your target audience.

DON’T #5: Ignoring Your Audience

Guess what? If you ignore the messages that your customers send you on social media, everyone will know it. Sites like Facebook actually let users know how frequently a business responds to its audience, and the more responsive you are, the more trustworthy and credible your brand will appear. Make it a point to regularly check your messages and get back to people as quickly as possible. If necessary, hire someone to manage your social media account(s) full time.

DON’T #6: Using Automated Messaging

While platforms like Twitter provide you with the option of providing automated direct messages to users (i.e., “Thanks for the follow” or “Check out…”), you might want to think twice before turning the automated function on. People don’t like feeling as though they’re following a robot instead of a person. It’s usually better to make someone wait a couple of hours for a personalized message than to instantly reply with an automated response.

Is your social media page annoying? Do you need an objective friend to assess your page and help you give it a makeover? Then, give us a shout to learn how you can accomplish your social media goals without alienating your customers.