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4 Don’ts of Social Media Marketing for Better Audience Reception

If you’re marketing your business, you may be compelled to spend most of your time talking about your brand. It seems the right thing to do. Why would you talk about someone or something else? Why would you talk about other things? You should be highlighting your brand or your authority or credibility. That’s true, but NOT ALL THE TIME. In fact, you should spend more time appealing to your audience’s interests.

DON’T start with yourself.

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Imagine yourself entering a room full of people and suddenly making a statement about yourself and hoping they would react. Maybe they would, but not in the way you might like. People dislike egotists. There is a much better way to engage them. Instead of starting a conversation about you, start a conversation about them. Ask them a question about their experiences. In other words, always put them in mind. Why? Your business isn’t about your brand. It’s not about your strategies. It’s about your audience. That leads us to our next point.

DON’T ignore your audience.

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Social media is what it is. Pardon the tautology. It’s social. That means everyone wants interaction. People want to talk, ask question, discuss about topics, share experiences, and connect with friends and make friends. These are basically what we do on social networks, and these are why they’re called social networks. Your social media channel is unlike a TV channel. It shouldn’t be a platform for one-way communication. When people write comments or send you a message, make an effort to respond to them. If you can’t do that because you’re too preoccupied, hire a social media team.

DON’T fake it!

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People can be trustworthy enough to give you the benefit of the doubt and try your brand and see if it delivers its promises. False advertising can fool more people than honest advertising AT FIRST before it backfires to hurt your brand’s reputation. Never ever do that! Don’t make false promises you can’t deliver. Don’t say things about your brand that aren’t true to attract customers. The same advice is true for you as the face of your brand. Don’t fake your credentials just to appear more credible than you truly are. You don’t need to have a Ph.D. to have a business. You just have to be honest and deliver value.

DON’T spam.

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Spamming evolved throughout the years. It’s no longer just done via email and text messaging. It’s also done on social media. Spam annoys most people. You can send links to multiple people several times. You can create fake accounts that randomly send links to people or invite them to subscribe to your website. This is worse than paid advertising. People will only block you and remember your website or brand as one of those annoying entities that send unsolicited mails or messages to them.

Also, take note that you can appear to be spamming your audience’s news feeds by posting several times a day. Limit your tweets to 5-7 a day and your Facebook posts to 3 a day.