So maybe you think you need social media marketing right now, or you thought you did earlier than now, and you had to get something up and going asap.....aaaaaaand now you are paying for it. Or, maybe you have had a social media presence for quite some time now, and you see companies that are still getting off their feet and are already killing it in the social media world and you can't figure out why you aren't killing it the same way. You may begin to think that maybe it's the product? Or then again, maybe it's the personalities of the people running the show....or perhaps, you think, it's just luck? Let's take a closer look at what makes companies do worse than they they might otherwise on the social media front. It may be beneficial to take some lessons from those whom have already learned the hard way, and skip some of the pain and suffering of figuring out how to do this on your own.
One of the biggest ways I see people get behind with their companies' social media marketing is that they try to hit every single social media outlet. Just because there are 25 different social media outlets does not mean that you have to hit all of them. For example, you know that most of the people that have Facebook are most likely going to have an Instagram. The people that have a Hot-or-not account are likely going to have a Twitter feed. So don't spread yourself so thin that you never actually get quality content delivered on any of your social media sites. There are billions who are surfing on sites like Facebook and Twitter....don't worry about the small fish accounts.
If you have content that is already on your website, say a mini blog or some other kind of info, don't just copy and paste that into your newsfeed or status update. This is lazy. Some suppose that others will not notice this habit, but they do, and it really turns people off. Instead, consider coming up with a personal response or announcement that is relevant to what people are doing or may be interested in for the time being. For example, if you have a buying guide for certain products on your website, and it is November, then type an update about how this buying guide will help you in 2015 for the holiday season. Don't just draw up a canned response, as you will end up having the very people you are courting for business, space out and ignore your updates, thus leaving that effort worth nothing.
One of the biggest ways that you can turn people off to your site is to remind them of the Myspace circa 2008. If your newsfeed looks like a giant advertisement and promotion page for your products and nothing else, people will pay attention to your feed about as much as they pay attention to the ads on the bottom of a infinite scroll page. If you are going to have your company on a social media site, then interact, chat, offer valuable knowledge, and offer exclusive promotions to the people who are following you on social media.
The last thing I will advise against, vehemently advise against, having personally sold this service in the past (until I realized what a rip-off it is, besides just being plain wrong) is to buy likes or followers. This cannot be any more obvious, and it is risky to do as well. It may pad your numbers at first, but it does not mean that any more physical people are following your business. It does not matter how many followers you show, real people are the only ones that actually buy your product. So do what you can to get real fans, and enjoy them as much as they are enjoying you. Interact with the people who help your post visibility.
Your social network influence will no longer suck, and will skyrocket with just a few basic tweaks in how you manage your media presence.