There is a common misconception regarding social media and business, that because of our personal experience using social media, using it for business is lateral and therefore easy. Now while the outlets themselves are incredibly user-friendly and do not require much skill in terms of utilization, it is the strategy from which your social media is built that is difficult. And without a comprehensive social media plan your efforts will ultimately fail.

Mistake One: No Initial Plan

Often companies feel immediate pressure to join social media and in so doing they create a series of outlets for where they believe they should be, usually sticking within the big three: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn. But, what is actually required prior to joining any outlet is a series of research methods used to determine your most advantageous outlets. This can include competitive and audience research, goal establishment, and analytical requirements/ROI. These methods save valuable time determining the most appropriate outlets for your individualized company.

Mistake Two: No Time

With grandiose plans, come massive disappointments. For instance, companies often join these outlets and can be successful at first due to immediate interest in time investment. But, over time that tends to waiver and more and more companies realize they do not have the time to properly invest in producing and distributing content on a consistent basis. What then happens is companies abandon their social media, becoming inactive on the various outlets.

Mistake Three: No Content

One of the major issues that companies continuously have with social media is content creation. Content is king, queen and jack, and is the most important aspect of social media participation. Content can vary but the best content has a series of elements that will allow it to be consumed and shared. Social media content should have one or more of these elements, it should be: original, useful, shareable, and contain media (video, photography, etc.). Companies struggle in their ability to produce valuable content, which leads to their social media suffering.

Mistake Four: No Growth

Social media is adaptive. It was created for personal use and then later adapted to business use. It is continuously evolving and expanding. There are always new outlets and new methods for reaching your audience and a successful company changes that initial plan to fit the needs of their client base. That being said, not every new outlet is appropriate for every business to utilize, but research and commitment are imperative to social media growth.

Social media may seem inherently easy but too often companies fail in their efforts. It is often useful for a company to seek external resources for consultancy or management. Marketing agencies with social media focuses have the ability to not only create social strategies but produce the content necessary to participate. For more information visit our homepage.