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Social media is a highly effective way to grow your audience and make more sales. However, as I look around online I see tiny mistakes being made which can unfortunately have a big impact. Because I have made many of these mistakes myself I want to give you the heads up so you can avoid them.
Mistake 1: Not Adding Your Facebook Page to Your Profile
When you interact in groups on Facebook you have to do it as your profile and not as your page. Therefore if someone is interested in you and what you offer they will click your name and try to find out more about your business.
To make it easy for them to find out all about your wonderful products or services just head to the ‘Where You Work’ section of your profile, edit it and start typing your Facebook page name – you can then add it and get more likes for your page!
Easy-peasy and so worth doing!
Mistake 2: Not Adding Social Media Follow Buttons to Your Website or Blog
Ok so you have gone to all the hard work of setting up your social media profiles – so let’s be loud and proud about them ladies and gentlemen ☺
If you have a website or a blog, please make sure you add social media buttons to them so that people can follow you. If you are using WordPress you can use a plugin to add them to the sidebar or header of your website, and from there people can find you across the range of networks – so don’t be shy, encourage people to find and follow you.
Mistake 3: Not Adding Share Buttons or a Share Bar Underneath Blog Posts & Products/Services
This is another wasted opportunity to get more eyes on whatever you have written, created or are selling.
When you write a blog post always make sure that there are social media share buttons underneath the post. The same is true of products and services – make sure that they have share buttons nearby, particularly for Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Make it easy for people to share your content – and they are more likely to – even go the extra step and ask them to occasionally.
Mistake 4: Not Adding Clear Information
Always make sure that when you create your profiles you include some relevant keywords in the about section, that sum up what you offer and may also get you found in search. For example Twitter doesn’t give you much space but you can still mention what you do, so that people get a clear vision of your business, even include your location if that is important. If you are a local business, then it is vital to include all your details.
Always include a link to your website/blog/marketplace – anywhere people can find out more about you and ultimately purchase from you.
Mistake 5: Overdoing Sales Pitches on Your Profiles
It’s always important to remember that social media profiles need to be a mixture of all different types of content. Much of that content should offer value – so it could be info about your process, links to other interesting content, cool or educational images and videos, tutorials etc.
I try to stick to the rule of thumb that for every sales post you publish – which mentions one of your services or products – there should be about 6 other non-salesy posts. This number doesn’t have to be exact, and sometimes the ratio will be higher or lower, but that’s just a guide figure to work towards.
Remember, these are social sites with the emphasis on ‘social’ – you can’t go for the hard sell all the time.
Mistake 6: Underdoing Sales Pitches on Your Profiles
However, that said, I sometimes see people who go to the other extreme and become almost very reluctant to mention their business at all. If you know that you offer valuable products or services – you should be proud to tell people about them.
Also, when you do mention a product or service ALWAYS leave a direct link to where it can be purchased, or where people can find out more information on that very item/service. You MUST include a link to the url and it needs to go directly to the item, not just to your website as a whole.
People want to head straight to the item they are interested in, and if they have to click around your website looking for it, they will soon lose interest. (Just as a side note, people have a very short attention span online – you have to take them by the hand and show them where to go!)
Mistake 7: Not Linking Directly to Products/Services on Pinterest
When you add a pin to one of your Pinterest boards (for one of your products or services) ALWAYS make sure that the pin takes you directly through to the item so that it can be purchased. Whether you pin via a little pin next to the item itself or from the toolbar, or even if you upload the pin from your computer – you should always check the pin afterwards to make sure that it takes you directly through to wherever you want to make the sale from.
I will reiterate this because it is so important – the pin should take you directly through to that product or service on your website – not just your website as a whole. If you find that it doesn’t, you can always edit the pin and make it point to the right place.
Again, we are doing this because people have a very short attention span and if the image doesn’t take them through to where that very item can be purchased, they will most likely not spend any time clicking around looking for it and you will have lost a potential sale.
Tailwind is the social media scheduling tool that gets real results in less time.
Mistake 8: Lack of Consistency
I have said it before – you don’t need to be using every social media network out there – but the ones that you do decide to use – use them consistently. So if say you choose Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, then update them every day if possible or at least several times a week.
Consistency is so key with everything we do online, sharing regularly and sharing wisely will get results. The best way to get consistent on social media is to have ready prepared content that you can just run with. Coming up with ideas – and content – is so much easier with the Social Media Content Calendar, check it out here.
