The 7 Deadly Sins of Social Media Marketing

08 Sep The 7 Deadly Sins of Social Media Marketing

If you follow this blog regularly, you’ll notice we often focus on the importance of content marketing, normally as part of search engine optimization (that’s because search, along with email, is one of the top uses of the Internet worldwide). While regular blogging is an important start when it comes to content marketing — companies that blog more than 15 times each month get a full five times as much traffic — you need to look at content distribution, not just content creation. That’s where social media comes in.

If you jump right in, however, you’ll find that social media management isn’t as easy as it seems. There are numerous pitfalls. It’s difficult to convert generally better Internet visibility into leads or sales. And whatever you do, you need to make sure you don’t commit any of the seven cardinal sins of social media management:

1. Lust: Trying to Be on Every Network
   It’s easy to see why companies sometimes try to expand their reach by getting on every single social media platform: Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and brings in three times as many leads. But not every platform is a good fit. Restaurants might do well on Instagram, but you’re probably wasting your effort if you’re trying to promote your machine shop with artistic photos.
2. Gluttony: Posting Way Too Often
   In order to avoid being viewed as a spammer, you need to limit your posts. Nobody wants their feeds inundated by constant sharing.
3. Sloth: Not Posting Good Content Often
   On the flipside, you need to post consistently in order to build a following on social media. Plan ahead and have novel content ready so you won’t need to recycle tired old blogs to share.
4. Greed: Making Everything About Money
   Obviously, you want to use social media to drive sales. But part of web marketing is general brand awareness, and that means starting useful or interesting discussions even when you don’t think you’ll get an immediate lead or sale out of it.
5. Wrath: Hitting Back at Customers
   Social media is informal in comparison to more traditional customer service channels, but that doesn’t mean you can post whatever you like — especially when you receive criticism. Take a deep breath and respond as politely as you would on the phone or in person. Remember, your response will be seen by not only that one customer, but also by anyone else scanning your page.
6. Envy: Jumping on Every Trending Topic
   Inserting yourself into trending topics, or “newsjacking,” is a great strategy for channeling interest toward your brand. But it’s often a bad idea to capitalize on news that isn’t really related to your field. That goes double if the news event you’re trying to capitalize on is related to a tragedy (look up Epicurious’ tweets after the Boston Marathon bombing for an example).
7. Pride: Using Social Media Like a Megaphone
   Social media isn’t a one-way communication channel for you to push your content. It’s an opportunity to actually engage your customers and get to know them.

Do you have any social media management dos or don’ts to share? Do you handle your social media in-house, or outsource it to a social media management firm? Join the discussion in the comments.