Avoiding Social Media Pitfalls

With any successful business venture, there is always risk and reward. The two golden rules for a decision like this are. Do the risks outweigh the rewards and what can I do to mitigate the risks? Social media is no different, it takes years to build your reputation and can only take seconds to destroy it. So, you are probably asking yourself is the risk worth the reward and the answer to this is definitely yes. Secondly, can I mitigate the risks and the answer to that is of course.

1. Know your Audience

You can make all the posts in the world, but if your audience doesn't have any interest in what you are posting. It's just more noise in the amphitheater that is social media. To navigate this, there are many tools that you can use to gain this understanding. You can review your analytics, create consumer personas, or just increase your communication with your current audience.

2. Know your Brand and Develop a Guide

It's important to ensure that your messaging and tone are consistent across all platforms. Your key messaging should reflect everything that your brand stands for. This will also help if more than one person is running your social media, as it eliminates the risk of posting something off-brand.

3. Review, Review, Review

While this seems like a simple task, it is often overlooked due to either negligence or wanting to move on to your next task. While a spelling mistake or punctuation error is minor in the grand scheme of things, it hurts your reputation of being an expert in your field.

Bonus Rule:

Never post after midnight, treat social media like a mogwai.