IT’Sa common error for many businesses to often see
marketing their product or services on social media as a likely quick fix to
their otherwise struggling business ventures. It is naively assumed that
getting their Facebook fans to give them some quick ‘Likes’, or maybe even
opting to buy themselves some fake followers on Twitter, and going full
throttle ahead in their blog articles to impress their customers with what a
great business they are able to run, is nothing short of a crucial blunder.
In real truth, the saviour cavalry on their white
horses is an enigma that is least likely to turn into a reality. If you have an
earnest desire to save your day, there’s a lot more to marketing your product
or services on social media than just that simple method. Then, what does it
essentially take? The plain fact is, it takes persistence, effort and above all
time!
The true social media premise is adding real time
value through content which helps to engage your audience, and furthermore also
has the latent ingredients to inform, educate, inspire and perhaps even offer
them some form of entertainment. This implies doing away with ‘you’ as the
central focus and concentrating on ‘them’ as the prime objective of your
business. To be precise, that requires adding extra value by offering solutions
to the problems of your customers through content which needs to include some
‘How To’ information in your articles, ebooks and white papers that are posted
on your website and blog posts.
Small business owners are now beginning to see the
enormous potential offered by Social Media and its marketing prospective. They
approach with varied expectations, predominantly built upon the premise of
conventional marketing practices that primarily includes one track email blasts
or conversations with simple sales messages, least willing to pay adequate
attention to the negative comments or response encountered.
Three mistakes commonly made by many businesses in
their marketing efforts on social media generally include:
• Deleting unwanted comments
• Same message Auto-Posted on every social media
network
• Policy of blasting first, and then controlling the
damage
Deleting Unwanted Comments
It is commonly taken for granted by some business
owners that social media is for broadcasting their commercial messages that
will then automatically go viral in a matter of seconds. However, quite a few
of them are slow in embracing this media on account of a major apprehension –
the horrifying fear of encountering negative comments. Being constantly aware
of the fact that this very channel may also be used for spreading less desired
comments regarding their brands by online users actually dims their spirits.
Hence, in place of designing better strategies to
engage with their audience, business owners opt for special standby policing
mechanisms that are constantly ready to delete any undesired queries or
comments posted on their social media pages, which is neither warranted nor
desired. Having a social media presence is chiefly about initiating connections
which can then lead to reciprocal actions. This process involves
familiarisation with their online guests and paying proper attention to views
expressed by them. It is close observation of what their market shares,
comments upon and likes which provides them with useful knowledge of what
things are on the minds of their guests. In fact, it is these very insights
which assist business owners in adapting their products or services to their
respective needs and business demands.
Businesses solely interested in receiving positive
comments are seldom prepared to enter into in-depth relationships with their
audiences. Brands of such businesses are thus perceived to reflect narrow
mindedness or defensiveness and conversion normally fails to transpire. In
consequence, such fear-oriented mentality rarely succeeds in attracting a loyal
or raving customer base. Rather, engaging with and responding in a timely and
positive manner to their client comments will help them in converting every
available opportunity into a conversion that is assured to build further trust
and harmony.
Same Message Auto-Posting on Every Social Media
Network
Small business owners understandably tend to have
lesser time for paying appropriate attention to their respective accounts on
social media. They need a magical button which would be helpful in posting
their business messages across diverse social media platforms; providing them
with limitless coverage. The sad part is that no such magical button is known
to exist in real terms.
Instead, business owners ought to lay their entire
emphasis on a single or at most on two social media platforms, taking time out
to genuinely show up and build a positive connection to their respective
markets. People generally tend to hang around different social networks,
searching to have a meaningful conversation, as they shun having to respond to
robots auto posting messages originating from various other channels associated
with the social media. Since one generally abstains from using the same terms
in social parties as one would at board meetings, why would one then insist on
auto posting the same old message across various social networks? That is
certainly more sensible.
Policy of Blasting First, and Then Controlling the
Damage
This is among the most common mistakes made by
business owners. They casually venture to broadcast email messages of a
commercial nature to their contacts, without bothering to obtain their prior
consent. Some even happily exchange or buy email lists, facilitating them to
reach a greater number of people, in a far lesser time frame.
While many business owners may even be conscious of
the fact that the normal response rate can be expected to be much lower in such
cases, some are still determined to give it a try. Why is that so? The simple
explanation is that it’s seen as a cheaper and somewhat quicker method of
getting their business messages through to the inboxes of many thousand online
web users.
Business owners need to be awakened to the
hard reality that unsolicited emails can adversely affect both their reputation
as well as long term relationships. To be absolutely to the point, its
impossible for anyone to deny the relevance that permission-based mode of
marketing has to prospective customers on your social media sites.
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