Digital revolution has taken the world by storm, so has the consequent emergence of social media platforms post Web 2.0. The unprecedented pace of rapid change is exerting tremendous pressure on businesses, society, and individuals to fight for a notice worthy spot on social media. Willingness to accept judgements, opinions and rude remarks with a certain amount of resilience is expected of almost everyone available and accessible on social media platforms.
We Live in a World of Digital Chaos
In the surrounding mayhem, it seems that the clearly demarcated territory on what defines your “private life” is blurred to allow room for an exposé moment anytime with social media penetration. You are tracked everywhere you go, not sparing the private walls of a restroom either. Narcissistic stalkers are a growing prevalent race on social media today. While you may not know the stalker, the stalker knows all of your movements. This leaves your private life at a higher risk of the unknown, while inducing subtle fear into human minds.
Digital marketing professionals like most of us are caught up in a frenzy, battling disruptive trends and finding navigation pathways in the social media maze. Wading off the clutter and silencing the noises around isn’t easy in a world pulsating with cacophonous banter. Pertinent information can seem oddly irrelevant in a matter of seconds with excessive scrutiny observed by naysayers. So how do you ensure the brand you propagate and advertise looks exciting, interesting and relevant to audiences across the globe?
This is one great challenge faced by digital marketers today. To grab maximum eyeballs and the top spot, marketers do lose sight of the do’s and don’ts to be observed on social media. Here are some tips to help tread cautiously:
Avoid Plunging into Social Media Space Without a Plan
As Benjamin Franklin rightly said, “If you fail to plan, then you are planning to fail!” If you do or did plunge into the world of social media without a plan, then it’s time to revamp and realign focus to save yourself down the road from an absolute social media disaster. Understand how social media works, study the audience engagement metrics, unique visitor traction on each channel, demographic penetration methodologies, SEO and style of content development for various social media niches, know what to say and what not by finding your own voice and tone, follow a well-planned social media marketing calendar and pick your posting strategy accordingly.
Avoid Posting the Same Message in an Exactly Same Fashion/Style across all Social Media Platforms
Customise your message to suit the delivery platform and schedule fixed timings for message circulation. Use direct style of communication always to attract attention of the observer/reader. Do not go beating around the bush; rather convey your points succinctly.
Avoid Excessive Use of Hashtags
This can make your brand look irrelevant and too eager to attract followers. It will also leave your brand vulnerable to attacks, to be able to be tracked down and followed by bots or spammers. As a rule of thumb, only use hashtags as need be. You can keep the ratio as 80:20, wherein the number of words i.e. 80 is higher than the hashtag usage.
Don’t Lose the Key Focus
Avoid joining every trending topic on social media to ultimately lose focus on audience engagement. It can be tempting to join discussion forums, groups and opine on a popular trending topic or a post that has gone viral. But sometimes, you need to hold back, resist the urge to comment and look at it from a larger canvas perspective. Joining the bandwagon of naysayers and commentators will serve no good for your brand. Observe discretion during communication and monitor language usage at all times. Keep the message concise to the point, relevant and interesting to promote engagement and initiate call for action from the audiences.
Avoid Sending Automated, Robotic Text Response to Users
While it is important to acknowledge user contribution and suggestions with a polite reply, it is advisable to avoid excessive “Thank you” during response. This can make your acknowledgement look as a bot-typed text to the reader lacking emotional connect. Instead, add a personalised touch to every response by engaging with the audience to understand their know-how and preferences better. Keep the exchange of messages succinct, real and alive.
If you have been making all or a few of the mistakes as mentioned above on social media, then it’s time to devise and imply a turnaround strategy, garner more visibility and user traction on the company’s social media page(s).
Changing times call for strong social media presence to authenticate the service offerings, seek reviews and grab maximum eyeballs. Staying off the grid can only make you look judgemental and less appealing to consumers. It’s time to get in sync with change and boost engagement levels on social media, win more leads and position business on a fast-track route to success.