Why is Your Social Media Dying a Slow Death?

Running a small business comes with many responsibilities on a daily basis.

With that in mind, where do you rank social media in terms of its importance in promoting your company? In many cases, business owners have a hard trouble answering that question, a sign that they’re missing out on potential business.

Whether you are new to running a business or have been in charge for a number of years now, the social aspect of overseeing and promoting your brand can never be overlooked.

So, why then are you not feeling the love from current and potential customers when it comes to your social media efforts?

Start With Consistency and Relevancy

Among the things you need to focus in on:

1. Consistency – If you are tweeting, sharing, and pinning only off and on at best, there is your first big problem. Your social media efforts need to be consistent, showing consumers that you are serious about social networking in the first place. If you are not spending enough time with social media, is it because your team doesn’t have the time or you do not want to spend the money to outsource such needs? Whichever reason it may be, you need to rectify it, allowing you to be a constant presence in the world of social media;

2. Relevancy – Whether you tweet or share daily, how relevant are the posts that you send out? If you’re viewed as essentially a spammer, your social media efforts are basically null and void. Your posts should be from your own business or links to relevant information that consumers can use pertaining to the industry you are in. Provide them with data that will help them in their browsing and buying decisions, making them look at your company as an authority in the respective field;

3. Too many hands in the cookie jar – Some companies allow any and all of their employees to tweet, share, pin etc., still others leave it to one person or what is essentially the marketing team in place. Whichever formula you end up choosing, make sure your social media efforts have a consistent voice. If it sounds like way too many people are posting on behalf of your business, it could get confusing as far as putting out a consistent message. If you do permit many to use social media at work, make sure everyone understand your company’s social media policy. If they don’t, it could lead to embarrassing and negative encounters with consumers and other businesses;

4. Overreaching – Finally, are you trying to be too many things to too many different people? In an effort to reach a wider audience, you might be spreading your efforts too thin across the board. Some companies have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Google+. Pinterest, and some of the other well-known sites, while others would rather focus in on one, possibly two of the top sites for maximum results. If you are on too many sites, it actually can be a bad thing in your efforts to reach people. Every few months, it is wise to do a social media review, analyzing your traffic, allowing you to see what does and does not work. Also, not a bad idea to do an online review of your business with sites such as Reputation.com and others that can gauge what online viewers think of your company’s overall online reputation.

As a business owner, what have you found to be productive and not so productive when it comes to promoting your company on social media?

Photo credit: momentfeed.com

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