There is an awful lot of stuff out there on social that noone wants to see, and here’s Hilary’s run-down of the top seven crappiest posts…
1. We’re the best, buy from us, you can’t be without our service
A barrage of overly promotional salesy posts simply turns people off. They will recognise what’s coming before they even read your post, just by associating your logo in their news feed with the big sell. That’s why we recommend you mix up the social posting with Facebook ads, promoted tweets and LinkedIn advertising as the platform for selling or promoting your new big deal and save the news feed for engaging with your audience.
2. It’s gone viral! It must be worthy…
Trust us, your audience doesn’t care that your business has shared a photo of an egg, or of the latest hilarious meme about the Prime Minister’s latest faux pas. It’s not relevant and gets you only cheap likes that will leave you with a confused and empty feeling the next day. It really doesn’t help with your content strategy, so save the viral posts for your personal accounts.
3. Which leads us nicely onto – Politics (and religion)
Politics is tricky because business is greatly affected by what goes on in that world. If you really must share something with a political slant, hold back from joining in a slanging match and share the good news, the interesting developments that are relevant to your industry and audience. And stay away from religion all together, it’s far safer than risking the alienation of your best customers and most engaged followers.
4. Hashtag-o-rama
Instagram was built for hashtags and thrives on the little monkeys, so it’s perfectly acceptable to include up to 30 in a single post. BUT Facebook and LinkedIn algorithms don’t work quite the same way and nor do the people on those platforms. And Twitter? It’s just a waste of valuable character space. Although important for increasing reach, too many hashtags can end up looking spammy and thoughtless, so use your space with care and research the relevant ones using something like Hashtag Finder or Hashtagify Me.
5. Duplicated posts on all platforms
Talking of the platforms working differently from each other… With using Hootsuite to schedule your content it can be tempting just to shuffle the same posts across each platform and give yourself a big tick in the social media plan. However, the platforms have audiences that are there for different purposes (they might be the same person, but the LinkedIn Hilary is very different from the Instagram Hilary). Craft the message to be appropriate for each audience and return to your strategy to see if you can be industry heavy on one and locally focussed on another, for example.
6. Mis-spelled and grammatically ugly
It’s forgivable every now and then, it is social media… but if you’re a serious brand with an important message, don’t mess it up with a spelling mistake or poorly constructed sentences, especially if you’re scheduling posts. Take a moment to simply read what you’ve written, not what you think you’ve written. And avoid using a meme with an error in it too!
7. Inconsistent branding
Each platform differs from the next and crafting different messages with a different tone of voice may screw up your branding. The key here is to remember that social media is an extension of your brand, your website and your philosophy. Strategise, strategise, strategise!
Jumping into the vast oceans of social media with your one perfectly crafted post can seem like you’re infinitely diluted among the millions of other voices, but you have carved out a niche, you have found dedicated followers and ambassadors that will support your business and read your posts. AT the end of the day, think about them and ask yourself, is what you’re sharing crap, or worthy?