What are the biggest mistakes that you find small business leaders make when using social media?
I been conducting a lot of training courses around the usage of social media for small businesses and I always need good stories to help people understand what NOT to do and why. I'm interested in hearing any perspective that you could share.
-Coach Powell
"Your success is our focus"
Answers (97)
Tony D.
Business, Technology, Consulting, Training, Coaching – Helping people have a better experience with technology
This applies to any size business. Some businesses decide, for good reason or bad, that they need to get involved in social media, but don't have the culture for it. So, someone is assigned to be the social media person. If that person really gets social media, find, but if not, not only is time wasted, but probably a social presence is created that's not really active. Few things are more annoying that finding a company's twitter address, for instance, but then discovering that nobody actually uses it, or hasn't in months.
Companies need to use (or hire) people who "get" social media. You just can't mandate that a current employee become a social media person. It may work sometimes, but why not go with a sure thing?
1, Branding of Twitter - It's just lazy if you don't
2. Use of only Twitterfeeds instead of real conversation - its Interactive!
3. Don't get personal - Keep level headed and debate
4, WATCH YOUR BRAND
One big mistake small business leaders make in social media is to spend a lot of time trying to promote themselves, they forget to keep an eye on their brand. With the speed of social media like twitter etc, Small businesses need to watch their brand especially in retail.
We found during research for a client, there were a number of upset customers posting on forums and social networks. None of these had been looked into as the company did not look for them. Something like this can be actioned very quickly and by adding a personnal service, you can quickly change a negitive view into a positive. Think the saying is "You can take 20 years to build a business to watch it be destroyed in 20 minutes!"
Varinder S.
Director/Trustee at NUS Students' Union Charitable Services
Best Answers in: Staffing and Recruiting (1)
I believe small business leaders have the perception that they must throw a lot of cash about in order to see a result. What small businesses must realise is that they can achieve good two way communication with an audience just as well as a larger organisation with minimal spending.
Social media (to a certain extent) eliminates economies of scales when it comes to audience interaction and marketing power.
Small businesses must be strategic and spend time to seed relevant content online. They must also ensure that they don't create platforms to interact with an audience (such as twitter) and then forget about it for a month.
In short:
Be persistent
Be professional
& Plan a strategy
It applies to any businesses big or small. Most realise that they are lagging behind and get to the band wagon by signing up with first SEO expert or company they come across. They need not be the best.
Marcus C.
OA/Career Preparation Coordinator
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Sometimes I think we forget the reason why people choose a particular individual to do business with. The answer is the character and personality of the individual in combination with any skills or experience that person possess. Social Media tends to "take away" from the personal (one-on-one) touch. Similar to texting, some may want to twitter you or make a comment on facebook. It de-sensitizes personal relationships. Most spend a great deal of time on these sites with no focus. I rather my practitioner contact me direct, this is more genuine than an email, text or twitter. Also, I observe many "Professionals" offering their personal life and habits for the world to see. Your clients or potential clients call tell a lot about you due to how you conduct yourself on the web. This may determine whether they do business with you or not.
Expecting social media to be the only way to get results and trying to do everything themselves, this goes for other tools as well.
In addition, having unrealistic expectations of what it can do.
Laura K.
Business Consultant for Business Owners and Senior Executives
Best Answers in: Small Business (2), Customer Relationship Management (1), Starting Up (1)
The biggest mistake I see people doing is just going on and announcing things about themselves or their business. I don't want to get ten tweets a day hearing about YOU. I want to hear things that are valuable for me and my life ... and they need to be fast.
A "quick tip" or a "thought for the day" or a discount for me or someone I care about, or something humorous ... that will catch my attention. Announcements about what you have accomplished are ok once in a while, but not all the time, unless you tie it into my life and how it helps me.
Just yesterday I got a FB note literally saying "watch my new video", and even though it was by someone I have a rapport with, that was not at all interesting to me. I had no inclination to take the time to click through on that, and didn't. Even though I knew he was putting a series of 7 videos out, and they were 3 minutes or less each, that statement turned me totally off in the moment, and I didn't take the time.
Videos can be nice, but if it takes more than 30 seconds or a minute to read or look at, I won't have time when opening emails, etc., and won't really come back later, even if I intend to. So don't expect something posted just once will get seen. Things fall back into the social media history very fast, and can be hard to find again easily.
And not too frequent: I don't want to incessantly hear about your business. It won't make me think of you more, it'll just make me annoyed with you.
So: short, sweet, pertinent, and valuable to me.
Deirdre R.
Freelance writer, copywriter and blogger
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I see many small businesses and solopreneurs make the mistake of using social media primarily for promotion, i.e., they're broadcasting. They see it as another marketing channel, not as a place to engage with others -- which, if done right, will lead to good marketing outcomes.
What NOT to do:
1. Stop updating – Once you create a presence on a social media platform you must be dedicated to it; this means being consistent in updating your status or pushing out tweets that mean something to your customers.
2. Go in without a strategy – this relates to the above; when you decide to use a social media platform should first have a strategy. Going in without a strategy you commit social media suicide by being “static”. Social media is interactive—“active” being the operative word!
3. Decide you know it all – Social media platforms are popping up all over the place—and at rapid speed. This is technology innovation at its best! Don’t make the mistake of thinking you know everything there is to know about a particular platform, and stop educating yourself. Be just as consistent about being in the know—if you don’t have the time, find a good advisor to work with.
1. Timeliness
2. Personality
3. Appropriateness
1) Timeliness: Information that comes too late to be acted makes the receiver feel like she or he has wasted time. Since electronic communication is so impersonal to start with, any added 'slight' makes for greater gaps in a business relationship. Similarly, information that is left over from a previous seminar, event, etc., leaves the viewer wondering if a company is still in business or just doesn't value its social networking resources.
2) Personality: Again, electronic media are impersonal by nature, so keeping social media 'social'--that is, with a tone that is warm, while still being professional--provides a sense that time in the electronic space is as relational as is possible.
3) Appropriateness: At the risk of contradicting what was said in #2, above, be sure you know your 'audience'. Statements like, "Eddie Entrepreneur is ready to help 5 more people reach their dreams!", do not endear friends in a group of friends that are truly just looking for social interaction. Likewise, being overly personal in a business space can be a sure way to turn potential clients or business partners away.
Biggest mistakes:
1. Not listening to customers.
2. Not responding to customers, especially if there is a legitimate problem.
3. Stopped updating.
4. Using social profiles only for promotional purposes.
5. Poor branding / design
The one major mistake is getting into social media with no plan. You can spend hours a day playing around on Facebook, Twitter, and the like, but you may be getting nowhere with promoting your business. Steps to follow:
- Establish what role you want your business to play in the social media world - what image will you portray, what are you trying to get out of it?
- Develop a voice, an image for your business - this is part of your brand (voice is as important or more than logo, colors, etc.)
- Know what's going on in your industry - it's so easy to get so wrapped up in your business that you have no idea what competitors and others in your industry are doing. You may find creative ways or other ideas for promoting your business through seeing what your competitors are offering.
- This one is VERY important - do not just promote, promote, promote! Social media is about being SOCIAL, not just telling people what you are selling. Create a conversation between you and your potential clients. It's like in an interview - spend half the time talking and let the other person spend half the time talking.
*Remember - people like to talk about themselves, so give them the opportunity to do that, ask them questions, and they will not only like you more, but you will also find out more about how to promote to them.
Links:
Shaun O.
Strategic Consultant
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (2), Customer Service (1), Internationalization and Localization (1), Graphic Design (1), Branding (1)
Here is what kills me.
"Small business leaders" that use social networking to scope out other business people, and then attempt to get you to do work for them for free.
People will Twitter/Facebook you, and say Hi, I run so and so company, I am trying to do this, and I was wondering if you can help me as a favour.
They want to put money in their pocket, and then scoff at the idea that you may want to be paid to do your job.
Someone just wanted me to help them market and grow their company, and in return, I would be able to eventually pay them for their services when they get big..
The biggest mistakes I see are consistency, failure to build relationships, design, lack of strategy and not listening.
Consistency - Most companies created a profile on a social media network and have abandoned it. They either didn't look to see if their audience was communicating on the network(s) or they hopped on the social media bandwagon and just didn't get it.
Failure to build relationships - So many companies hear of other companies make money through social media and quickly try to sell sell sell. Social media doesn't work like that. Sure the majority of people that Like your Facebook page and Follow you on Twitter are looking for a discount, but there are some that like to read what you post and will respond in one way or another. The relationship you can build with the connection or follower can be critical to your campaigns success.
Design - There are so many generic Twitter profiles and Facebook pages. Brand your Twitter profile and spice up your Facebook page with some FBML.
Lack of Strategy - Business wanted to see what the social media hype was all about, didn't know too much about it and launched a big social media experiment. No strategy was outlined, no plan of action took place, they just do it. When there's no strategy or thought put into it, failing is inevitable.
Not listening - It's amazing how many people I run into and they are unaware that people are talking about their brand, product or company online. Not listening and communicating with the online community can open a company up to deal with a pretty sharp blow they never saw coming.
Links:
Michael M.
I am founder and executive editor at a Zillion Ideas.com
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A local politician where I live tried it, about a week ago. He is up for election on May the 6th. He did too little too late. He put a personal page on one social media site and a fan page. Then found the page for the town he is standing in. No mention in his post of what party he was standing for and no link either to his personal page or his Fan page. he just didn't understand social media.
I tried to make people aware of a charity. I posted information on 14 social media sites and on one posted it 200 times, I put links in from one site to another, one part of a site to another part of a site. I used the logo as a click on link. Imagine what I would do if I was trying to promote the charity as I was only making people aware of an event, not a serious fund raising effort or anything. Then I would link blogs, websites and have the searhc engine bots going around in circles following links and people following links just to see what it was. People often click things, just to see what they do! lol.
George F F.
Career, Leadership and Management Consultant
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They blur the line between personal and professional. IE - if you are using Facebook, use it only for personal or business not both. Same applies to Twitter. I think LinkedIn is ideal in that it is all business/professional.
George F. Franks, III
Links:
The mistake business leaders make is assuming that just being there is good enough. It isn't.
You need a solid strategy, based on your company culture, goals, and expectations.
I'd rather be great at one medium than average on all of them.
Terry M.
Owner, Organizing For Your Life LLC, Time Triage (TM), Expert in systems, structures and processes impacting performance
Not using it.
Not being consistent.
No strategy.
No clear message.
No personality.
Dave M.
Professional trade show booth traffic builder and party entertainer. Corporate and private sector events.
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Not putting in the time and energy necessary to create a successful social networking experience and viable results...
Clarification added 5 months ago:
Over one and a half years posting this... It's time to close it already Marvin...
Most of all, realize people do not wake up yearning to hear more things about you or your biz. Avoid the pitfall of launching a social media campaign in your "sales" mode. Build an audience first. Add value for them taking the time to peruse your posts. When they determine you have something to say that interests them, then you may present your product as a solution. It can only work this way.
Jeff M.
Outsourced CFO/Independent Business Advisor
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Marvin, all of these answers are excellent, but Laura's, below, really resonates with me. Social media is considered "pull" marketing, in that blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. have evolved to the point where they should be used primarily to pull customers and others to you by providing them with useful, relevant content, which causes them to come back, helping you build relationships, credibility and your brand. As others have said, it's also about engaging, as is happening in this thread. This, as opposed to classic "push" marketing, which still has its place in this world, but not so much in the social media space. We are so bombarded online these days, that if something doesn't pique our interest in the first three seconds, forget it. Additionally, as the use of social media has exploded, so too have widely accepted social norms for using these media, or "net etiquette." Sometimes people make mistakes and most of the time they're forgivable, but the biggest faux pas, in my humble opinion, is the guy you followed on Twitter, who followed you back with an automated message stating "Click here and earn $42 million in 20 minutes - in your boxer shorts." We've all met this guy in one form or another and, after all this time, it still surprises me how many of them are still around. This, to me, is the biggest mistake ANYONE can make using social media. It's a complete turn-off, but at the end of the day, it's no big deal to me - one click and he's out of my life, permanently. But I don't think I'm alone when I state that, in my opinion, these people do far more harm to themselves than good.
I personally get really tired of all the direct marketing messages you get on Twitter. I think instead people need to be people, get personal and engage in discussions!
Lara S.
Social Media Lover getting businesses results with social media marketing through online training, strategy & consulting
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I meet a lot of small businesses who want to get into social media, the main mistakes I find are below:
- They think it's easy, and you just set up a Facebook page and suddenly you will have lots of fans and everyone buying your product, they don't understand that it takes time and effort, and is something that has to be updated very regularly
- That you can't just start something and then leave it, alot of my clients have started blogs, done one or 2 posts and then got bored, this is fine if you are no longer doing it, but don't promote that you are
- Not understanding the time commitment involved
- Not understanding that online is the same as offline in that you have a plan, you set goals and work towards them, you don't just start and then wonder why it isn't working
- That you need a reason behind why you are using it, otherwise it has no focus
- You don't need to be on every social network known to man, but instead pick your weapon and use it well!
You might also be interested in reading my blog (link attached), I have started reviewing a Facebook page each Friday with what is working and what needs to be fixed
Links:
Mike M.
LTE Project Manager at WesTower Communications
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Not developing a personal feel to the communications (being too corporate).
Jessica R.
Head of social media and community relations at IAC-EZ
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They need to talk less and listen more. Social media is all about making connections and, just like in the real (rather than virtual) world, people will be more drawn to you if you actually listen to what they're saying than if you try to force your message upon them.
Tirthankar S.
Trading & Commercial (Steel & Commodities)
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Promoting Board Member(s) instead of Business.
Each social media avenue has a different personality. The top 4 social media sites (as of a couple months ago) were Twitter, FB, YouTube and LinkedIn. Companies need to realize the different personalities and assess whether the avenue complements the company or brand. In a nutshell: Twitter is more information-only, more business-like and more fitted to "seriousness" as compared to FB, which is more social, two-way conversational and "fun". (Note I said comparatively, and not exclusively.) YouTube has no personality, per se, but to be successful with promoting, videos need to be entertaining (funny, shocking, gross, or otherwise stirring rather strong emotions). LinkedIn, really, is strictly for personal promotion.
Regardless of the avenue, the bottom line is.....what value does the customer receive from posts on these sites? Is this a REAL value?
For example, customers are probably interested in product enhancements, but could care less about corporate offices being renovated. Posting just to "keep awareness up" is not delivering value. It becomes noise.
Suzanne R. Brock
PhD Student, Marketing
I think many people have made great points in this thread, but I definitely think when discussing the *Biggest* mistakes that businesses should avoid, there is one word that sticks out in my head: ASSUMPTIONS. False assumptions most of the time are responsible for failure in social media and marketing as they are in many other cases. A few assumptions you should highlight and instruct your class to stay away from are:
1.)Research and monitoring isn't necessary. (It is extremely important to understand how your market is using the web, if at all.)
2.)Social networks are the preferred way of initiating customer engagement. (Social networks are a good way engaging your customer but may not be necessary for your business, depending on your customers behavior.)
3.)Measuring ROI isn't possible (Measuring social media ROI is possible. Here is a really cool slide on measuring ROI in social media: http://bit.ly/x8YYc)
There are many other assumptions, but hopefully these three help you get the point across.
Good luck!
Omar Ead
Twitter: @omarjead
Biggest mistake - I just saw this one recently:
If you happen to be following conversations - don't just butt in ask if they do "this" at work & then randomly send them email asking them to use your product without asking their permission. Make an effort to build a relationship, talk to them, understand their needs & please please do ask permission before you email them.
It turns people off if you make an effort to hunting for their email to email them your product info but could not be bothered to actually have conversation with them on twitter. You are just telling them that you are more interested in their money than actually helping out the client.
Links:
- http://www.twitter.com/StrangeLoops
- http://www.twitter.com/ObsiaUK
- http://strangeloops.posterous.com/
Clarification added April 22, 2010:
This is with respect to twitter.
