Social Media Marketing – Do’s and Don’ts

Social marketing represents a vital part of Internet promotion. The ability to use social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn to build a brand, and to target a range of different consumers, is an essential one for different companies. However, many companies either fail to make the most of the opportunities presented by social marketing, or commit some basic mistakes that damage their ability to create an effective relationship with consumers. Some of the best ways of making the most of social marketing range from personalisation to brand management, while some of the issues to avoid include overloading audiences, and ignoring demographic trends.

Social Media Do’s

Make It Personal

A social media marketing brand should be all about engaging on a personal level with a client or consumer base. This means making a campaign as personal as possible, rather than just being another faceless promotional push. In this context, focusing on emotive language that emphasises ‘we’ and ‘you,’ and that uses Twitter and blogs to create an ongoing narrative for a company can make a significant difference to making your brand stand out above others.

Establish a Coherent Brand Over Platforms

When looking at different social media marketing brands, it’s important to establish a coherent brand across different platforms. Doing so means being able to recognise the key strengths, and compatibilities between different platforms. For example, a home website can act as a hub for tying together different social media campaigns, while more up to date news, and customer feedback, can be included on Twitter and Facebook.

Encourage Interaction

Social marketing should have a strong interactive element if it’s going to be effective. This means avoiding static pages, and focusing on creating games, competitions, and apps that consumers can use to interact with and immerse themselves within a brand. Converting this brand loyalty into repeated page visits, and setting contests and loyalty schemes up as part of competitions can also work well, in this respect.

Break Down Audiences

A customer base is not a broad, undifferentiated mass of people. Break down your target audience into key demographics, and try to hit each of these groups, without necessarily focusing on one in particular. Specific campaigns can be targeted to Twitter users, while Facebook pages can be set up for individual products and services that have a special interest for different groups.

Social Media Don’ts

Overload Audiences

Hitting customers with too many ads can have a negative impact on your brand perception. Pop up adverts are particularly irritating, and particularly if they appear every time someone logs into a website. Try to integrate a campaign as smoothly as possible into a social media platforms, and remember that quality content and offers will find their way to customers with careful positioning.

Overlook Feedback

The best social media presences are based around being able to provide rapid feedback to queries and complaints. Don’t assume that you can get away with providing bland answers, and focus on ensuring that someone is always able to log in and provide personal feedback for questions.

Ignore Trends

While it may be tempting to keep at the same marketing campaign, ignoring trends and negative feedback can mean that you end up investing a lot in a marketing campaign with a low ROI. Sometimes it’s better to accept that a campaign has been poorly thought out, or that a target audience has reacted differently. Try to retain parts of the campaign, and take the time to develop a better relaunch.

About the Author: Rob James recommends Computrad for IT Services London.  He setup business 10 years ago and has grown, and IT support has become increasingly important.  Rob can be found blogging about both online and offline marketing strategies.

Image - Do’s & Don’ts by AKZOphoto, on Flickr