With the ever-changing landscape of social media, it’s important for small business owners and entrepreneurs to stay on top of their marketing strategies.
Knowing the dos and don’ts when it comes to utilizing these platforms can make all the difference in creating successful campaigns.
From taking advantage of holidays to engaging with followers, there are a few essential elements that must be considered when crafting your strategy.
So let’s take a look at some key social media do’s and don’ts you should keep in mind while promoting your business.
12 Social Media Do’s
1. Do Test and Try New Things
It’s essential to continuously test and try new things on social media, as the platforms are always evolving.
Instead of sticking to the same strategies all the time, experiment with different tactics that can help you better reach and engage your target audience.
Whether it’s running ads targeting specific demographics or creating content around certain trends, testing different strategies can help you improve visibility and engagement.
Always be on the lookout for new features or updates that could benefit your business – being aware of these changes and taking advantage of them is key to staying ahead of the competition.
2. Do Create Content for Your Ideal Customer
When planning your social media strategy, make sure you focus on creating content that appeals to your ideal customer.
This way, you can tailor the material in a way that speaks to your target demographic and motivates them to take action.
Whether it’s informative blog posts, educational videos, or interactive polls, ensure that whatever you’re putting out there provides your customers with the right information they need to make an informed decision.
3. Do Be Consistent and Post Regularly
For your content to reach more people on social media, consistency, and regular posting are essential.
Consistent posting not only helps you create a routine around your social media marketing activity but also encourages the algorithm to show your content more often.
Regular posting also gives you an edge when it comes to competing with other businesses on social media, as staying active helps ensure that your brand remains top-of-mind for potential customers.
If you struggle to maintain a consistent posting schedule, we recommend you sign up for a 7-day free trial of the Social Media Content Club, which provides daily content for business owners.
4. Do Build Relationships and Engage with Your Followers
When it comes to successful social media marketing, engaging with your followers is key.
This helps to create relationships and trust with them, as well as giving you invaluable feedback from customers, which can be used to improve your content or strategies.
Make sure to respond to comments, answer questions and share other people’s content that could potentially interest your followers.
This will not only help you stand out but also form a strong connection with them.
Plus, it gives you an excellent opportunity to uncover potential leads and gain insights into what customers want from your business.
5. Do Schedule Posts
When crafting content for social media, scheduling posts should be a priority.
This helps get your message to the right audience at the right time, making it easier to manage your time and resources wisely.
Scheduling can also give you more flexibility when it comes to content creation, as it allows you to plan ahead and get organized.
Just remember to stay in tune with real-time conversations so you can quickly intervene when needed.
For help selecting the right social media scheduling tool for your business, read: Best Social Media Scheduling Tools for Small Business Owners
6. Do Optimize Your Profile
Optimizing your social media profiles for your business is an important step to ensure that customers can easily find and connect with you.
Include relevant keywords in your bio so the algorithm recognizes what kind of content you’re posting and shows it to more people.
Incorporate elements of your personal brand, such as your values and professional ethos, to resonate more deeply with your audience.
Additionally, add a call to action in your profile, encouraging followers to take the next step and become customers. This could be a link to sign up for a newsletter, download an ebook, or join your loyalty program.
Adding a clear and direct call-to-action, like an email address or a link to a business page, encourages potential customers to engage directly and learn more about your offerings.
By optimizing your profile, you’ll make it easier for potential customers to find you and understand what kind of services you offer.
7. Do Vary Your Post Type
When it comes to social media, diversifying your post types will keep followers engaged and interested in what you have to say.
It’s important not to focus solely on promotional or self-serving content, as this can quickly become repetitive and dull.
Aim to mix things up by posting different kinds of content, such as educational pieces, stories, industry news, polls, and surveys.
This will capture the attention of viewers and encourage them to engage with your posts, boosting reach and helping build relationships over time.
Additionally, varying post types provides an opportunity to control how you come across on social media and how customers perceive your brand.
For help varying your content, download our free cheat sheet of 100 social media post ideas.
8. Do Narrow Your Focus to One Channel
Trying to grow multiple channels simultaneously is a recipe for burnout.
I’ve seen it happen too many times to count, which is why I advise business owners to focus on growing one channel at a time.
Having a presence on multiple social media channels is a good idea, but when it comes to creating content, it’s important to create it with one specific social media channel in mind.
Think about the types of people you’re reaching on that one platform – what are their likes, dislikes, challenges, fears, etc.
What type of content do they engage with and consume? Create your content with that one channel in mind.
You can still have a presence on other channels, but narrowing your focus to one will allow you to get better results and faster growth without experiencing burnout.
9. Do Use Relevant Hashtags
Using relevant hashtags is a great way to boost the visibility of your posts, expand your content’s reach, and connect it to wider and more diverse audiences.
Hashtags can help you join larger conversations related to your industry, or they can be specific to the post itself.
Include hashtags that are trending in your industry, as well as those that reflect your brand’s unique values and offerings.
Include a few popular and relevant hashtags in each post; this will increase your exposure and help you build relationships with potential customers or industry peers.
Just remember that it’s best to stick with 5 – 6 hashtags per post for optimal engagement.
This strategy not only boosts your posts’ visibility but also helps in segmenting your content to reach different audiences, from potential customers to current followers, ensuring your marketing efforts are as effective as possible.
10. Do Leverage Content Creation Tools
Leveraging content creation tools will eliminate much of the stress of managing your social media accounts.
These tools often provide a library of pre-written captions and pre-made visuals that you can customize to fit your brand’s voice and aesthetic.
Additionally, they come with calendars to make it easier to plan ahead and stay organized.
For example, the Social Media Content Club offers members access to ready-made captions, relevant hashtags, and professionally designed images.
Using content creation tools will save you time and help you create engaging posts that your followers will love.
11. Do Utilize Holidays
Celebrating holidays on social media is a great way to engage with your followers and create fun content that’s relevant to the season.
This could be anything from hosting a giveaway for Halloween or posting festive images for Easter. And don’t forget to use holiday hashtags to join larger conversations and increase the visibility of your posts.
You can even use these occasions as opportunities to promote any special deals or discounts related to the holiday.
Whatever content you decide to create, just remember to make it fun and engaging while staying true to your brand’s identity.
12. Do Monitor Your Performance
Monitoring your performance on social media is essential to understanding how well your content is doing and what kind of impact it has on your audience.
This means keeping an eye on key analytics like engagement rates, follower demographics and activity, post reach, and impressions.
Knowing these metrics will give you a better idea of what content resonates with your followers, allowing you to create more of it in the future.
Additionally, monitoring your performance will help you identify key influencers to partner with who can help amplify your message and bring more people to your page.
By staying on top of the metrics, you’ll be able to create more effective content and make sure your message is reaching the right people.
Now that you know the 12 social media do’s, let’s move on to the 12 social media don’ts.
12 Social Media Don’ts
1. Don’t Steal Images
When creating content for social media, it’s essential to remember that stealing images is never okay.
Not only is it unethical, but you could also face legal repercussions if the original creator takes action against you.
Additionally, using someone else’s work without attribution might give off the impression that you don’t understand or respect copyright laws.
To avoid any issues, choose to use original images or ones that are free for commercial use.
You can find great royalty-free images and videos on several websites and applications, such as Canva.com.
2. Don’t Expect Instant Results
It’s normal to want quick results when it comes to social media marketing, but try not to fall into the temptation of expecting instant success.
Building a successful social media presence is more of a marathon than a sprint, so don’t expect instant results.
It takes time and effort to build relationships and trust with your audience, so take the necessary steps to develop an effective strategy tailored to your needs.
Remember that success doesn’t happen overnight. Focus on steadily growing your presence, and you’ll eventually see the rewards!
3. Don’t Take Haters Personally
As a business, it’s all too easy to be discouraged by social media trolls and haters. We know how discouraging negative comments can be, and it’s hard not to take them personally.
Try your best to remain focused, motivated, and positive – don’t let these people get in the way of achieving your goals!
Remember, the majority of viewers on social media are genuine users who want to engage in a positive way, so don’t let the mean comments or trolling influence how you feel about your content or your business.
Focus on providing quality content that resonates with your audience and keep striving for success.
4. Don’t Compare Yourself to Others
Social media can be a great platform for business owners to show off their work, but it’s important not to get sucked into the comparison trap.
It’s easy to compare yourself to other brands and businesses on social media, but this can be detrimental to your confidence and success.
Every business is unique and has its own journey—don’t let the successes of others discourage or distract you from continuing on your journey.
Focus on your own goals and objectives and keep pushing forward with your business.
5. Don’t Obsess About Perfection
When it comes to posting content on social media, you don’t have to be perfect.
While it’s important to check grammar and spelling, don’t get too caught up in striving for perfection every time.
Perfection is not always possible or realistic, and focusing too much on achieving it can lead to unrealistic expectations.
Instead, aim to create content that resonates with your audience and conveys your message in an authentic way.
Your followers will connect with you more if they can see that you’re human and approachable.
And don’t forget to have fun – after all, it’s your content! So make sure you enjoy the process and be yourself.
6. Don’t Spam in Groups
When using social media groups to promote your business, don’t spam the group with your own links and content.
It’s important to remember that each group has its own set of rules and guidelines – follow them!
Posting too much self-promotional content will get you kicked out of the group. Instead, focus on building relationships with the members of your social media groups.
Ask questions, offer helpful advice where possible, and be someone group members can turn to for support.
This builds trust and encourages people to want to know more about your business and services.
It’s also a good idea to join conversations that are relevant to your business or industry.
You can even share content from other brands that you think would be useful to members of the group. Doing so shows that you are an active, engaged member and not just there to spam links and content.
7. Don’t Be Fake
Social media can be a great place to market your business, but it is also important to stay authentic.
Be honest and transparent about who you are and what you offer. Post pictures of yourself and be open to engaging with your audience.
Posting fake or misleading information can create distrust, which can ultimately damage your reputation as a business.
Show that you are approachable and connected to the people who support your business.
Don’t be afraid to show off your personality too! People will appreciate it if they can relate to you, so don’t be afraid to show your true self, quirks and all.
Showing people who you really are will help build trust and create loyal customers in the long run.
8. Don’t Focus on Vanity Metrics
It’s easy to get caught up in social media metrics such as follower count and likes.
While these metrics do provide a good indication of engagement, they should not be the only measure of success for your business.
Focus instead on creating meaningful content that resonates with your audience, encouraging genuine conversations and interactions with your followers, and analyzing the data behind it.
Don’t just look at vanity metrics—pay attention to the number of shares, comments, and clicks your content gets. This will give you a better understanding of how your business is performing on social media.
9. Don’t Let it Consume Your Time
We all know that social media plays an important role in marketing and promoting your business, but it’s important to remember not to spend too much time on it.
While interacting with your followers and engaging in conversations is beneficial, there are more important things you can do with your time.
Focus on creating quality content, developing strategies and tactics to grow your business, and working on product development and customer service.
It’s easy to get lost in the constant scroll of social media, but don’t forget that there are other vital aspects of running a successful business.
Set limits on how much time you spend on social media every day and stick to them.
A tool like the Social Media Content Club will help you minimize the amount of time you spend creating content for social media each day without sacrificing quality.
10. Don’t Ignore Comments
It’s crucial to engage actively with your audience by responding to comments on your posts.
This interaction shows that you value their feedback and are committed to maintaining a positive community.
Address both positive and negative feedback professionally.
For sensitive topics, consider taking the conversation to direct messages to resolve matters privately, thus protecting both your and your users’ private information and maintaining a positive environment on your public profile.
Acknowledging compliments will show your appreciation for them, and addressing issues will demonstrate that you value feedback and are willing to improve.
Taking the time to reply will help strengthen and maintain relationships with your followers over time.
11. Don’t Be Overly Promotional
While it’s important to inform followers about what your business offers, striking the right balance in your content is key.
People don’t like being bombarded with ads and sales pitches all the time.
Instead, focus on providing interesting and useful content that will resonate with your audience.
Mix promotional posts with valuable, informative, or entertaining content.
Engage your audience with regular updates that invite interaction—like polls about new products or discussions on industry trends.
Ask questions, post polls, and share relevant articles or images to spark conversation.
Showcase the people behind your business too – let them tell their stories and show the real human side of your company.
This approach helps in building a connection that goes beyond transactions, fostering a community that supports your brand through genuine interest and engagement.
Above all, remember that social media isn’t just for selling what you offer, but it’s about creating relationships and building trust with potential customers.
If you need help with non-promotional post ideas, download your free copy of our 100 Post Ideas cheat sheet.
12. Don’t Engage in Drama
Not engaging in drama on social media means avoiding gossip, negativity, or inflammatory language – all of which can quickly turn off potential customers.
Remember to always remain professional when interacting with other users and representing your company online.
Being courteous and showing gratitude for feedback or engagement is a great way to encourage more people to interact with you.
Additionally, post content that encourages positivity and spreads good vibes throughout your page.
This could be inspirational quotes, positive stories, or funny anecdotes – whatever makes your followers feel uplifted.
Let your social media presence be a source of joy, helpful information, or inspiration for others – not a place of negativity and drama.
Conclusion
Social media is an invaluable resource for businesses, offering a platform to reach new customers, build relationships with existing ones, and increase visibility.
To maximize success, it is essential to be strategic in your approach.
By following these 24 social media do’s and don’ts, you can ensure a successful presence on social media that will help build your business over time.
And don’t forget to try out the Social Media Content Club for effortless content creation.
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