Not Having Clear Goals - Even though most of the social media activities are free, without a plan it can very time consuming. By setting goals this can easily be avoided. With goals in place and knowing what to achieve, you will be patient with the results.
Not Measuring Results - Most people fail to measure their social media results. This is a very important and an integral part of the business. The measurements in Social Media include the number of responses, the likes, comments, retweets, favourites and so on. Using shortening links such as bitly will give you an indication of how many people clicked on your links even showing the demographics. In these measurements you must also include those who ended up being part of your e-zine or newsletter and the contacts you established. This data is very important to have.
Expecting Sales Overnight - The main reason why some business owners don’t measure results is because they were expecting a sale overnight. Social Media is a means of building relationships with people. With these platforms it has made it easy to communicate with people not only in your local community but all over the world. It has broken barriers. You can be in the United States but still build relationships with someone in Europe. This would not have been possible many years ago. The focus should not only be on an immediate sale on Social Media but also on building relationships which can bring in referrals.
Not Appreciating People - Take time to appreciate those who respond to your posts. You will find that there will always be people or even one person who will always like your posts and comment about it. Appreciate them by sending them a thank you message. There are a lot of messages and posts on Social Media but they took the time to like, comment and share your message. These people are evangelists of your service and they have to be appreciated.
Not Communicating - Lack of communication is one of the common mistakes on Social Media. Some business owners live in isolation on Social Media. They refuse to reply to messages and mostly focusing on posting links of their websites. The focus is mainly on themselves and not interested in people online. Lack of communication also means having no picture and just posting information about your business. This would definitely not lead to any referral or future sales.
Do you have any more Social Media mistakes that can be avoided? Leave your comments below.