5 Common SMM Mistakes

Social media promotion is not an easy task. Only at first glance, it is enough to regularly post thematic publications and respond to comments - in practice, there are nuances that need to be taken into account. Often common mistakes in SMM, but knowing about the possible "pitfalls" it will be possible to easily avoid such miscalculations.

Mistake No. 1: lack of a competent strategy

This is the standard way for a beginner to get active, and come what may. The probability of success with this approach is small, and it can be compared to a miracle - the chaotic content of the page does not attract, but repels users. Therefore, the primary task of the SMM officer is to develop a step-by-step action plan to be followed. To build an effective strategy, you need to:

• Define a goal.
• Study in detail and analyze the characteristics of the promoted product, highlighting its strengths (they should be the main focus).
• Assess the needs of the target audience in order to make "catchy" publications that will get a response.
• Prescribe a detailed plan, on the basis of which relevant text and graphic materials will be selected.

You should not use successful SMM strategies of large brands - usually this approach is ineffective. It is important to develop your own promotion vector - and you can begin to act. This requires a certain flexibility from the promotion manager on popular online platforms: an analysis of the level of involvement and other indicators will help to assess the relevance of the chosen action strategy in order to make timely changes.

Mistake #2: Everyone shares my interests

One of the most common problems. Focusing on their own taste, the SMM manager can easily find like-minded people, but in the development of a commercial account, such a solution is unprofitable. You need to give users what they are waiting for in order to get likes, comments, reposts, actively interacting with subscribers. To do this, they make a detailed portrait of a potential client and work with their target audience:

• Age, gender, region, marital status - this will help determine the basic interests and hobbies;
• Characteristics of the promoted product that can interest the target audience - understanding the strengths of the goods or services offered will allow you to demonstrate the maximum benefits;
• Choosing an online platform - it is worth promoting in the social network that the target audience prefers.

The last point is especially important - it is better to choose one development path, be it Instagram, Facebook or Telegram, and invest in it as much as possible than to move in several directions at once, as a result of not receiving enough response in any of them. And always focus on the portrait of a potential client, and not the own interests or preferences of the business owner.

Mistake #3: Uninteresting Content

Any topic can be presented in completely different ways - both in the traditional way and out of the box. It’s just that the average user’s feed is full of such suggestions: someone is practicing creativity, and someone prefers a direct approach, but as a result, they are equally likely to be left without attention. To prevent this from happening, and subscribers waited with interest for each new publication, it is worth considering several important nuances:

• Balance is a fine line between "too much" and "not enough", which needs to be constantly monitored, focusing on the reaction of users. Therefore, monitoring should be constant in order to understand in which direction to work, making adjustments to the chosen strategy of action.
• The content must be carefully crafted - any student can publish a quick post, but they still expect the result from the SMM manager, and not just filling the feed with publications.
• The value of the materials plays a key role - the information must be expert and diverse, because ten posts on the same topic will be a waste of time.

It is important to put yourself in the place of a potential client: what does he expect from the page he subscribes to? If we are talking about advertising seaside holidays, then we need detailed descriptions of rooms, territory, available locations and entertainment. And it is useful for beauty industry masters to talk about the stages and effectiveness of the proposed procedure, methods for disinfecting tools and other safety measures. Any misunderstanding is a loss of a subscriber, therefore, after scrolling through the feed in a few seconds, the user must make sure that he will be interested, useful and need the posted information and will not need to ask additional questions.

Mistake #4: No Feedback

You need to interact with the audience at all levels. For example, a question arose in the comments, and the standard “answered in Direct” comes to it - perhaps a specific potential client will continue to communicate, but dozens of others will be lost. Even worse, when the user asks a specific question, and he is offered to call the sales department or go to the site - 50% of potential buyers in the end simply do not take advantage of the offer. Therefore, in order to prevent this common SMM mistake, you need to adhere to the following rules:

• It is important to conduct a dialogue with clients, answering any questions in detail.
• After the consultation, a call to action is obligatory (an offer to get acquainted with detailed information about cooperation, sign up for a procedure, select the right product and place an order).
• Reactions in stories should not go unnoticed - this is a great way to start a conversation and delicately offer to take advantage of an offer that interests you.

It is important to understand that negativity is also a variant of feedback. Leaving such comments unattended, as well as deleting them, the page owner seems to remain indifferent to the voice of the target audience. But if there is a problem, then it must be solved, and not close your eyes. It is much more efficient to write out all the claims, understand the reasons for their appearance, work out or eliminate controversial points, or focus on the advantages that cover minor shortcomings. If the company is not ready for dialogue, then this is evidence of uncertainty in the proposed product, which forms distrust in the brand. But humor and a calm resolution of the conflict would most likely correct the situation.

Mistake #5: Hashtags and geolocation don't work

These useful tools do not work only if they are not used correctly. Of course, you can write a dozen general phrases for each post or put a geoloc that does not correspond to reality, and then continue to wonder why it was not effective enough. And for hashtags and geotags to work, it is important:

• Make a convenient rubricator so that the user can explore the topics of interest to him in the profile.
• Take into account the interests of the target audience (which hashtags are subscribed to, which places they visit).
• Do not use "vague" wording: "furniture" is unlikely to give a result, but "furniture to order" will help you find customers.

Promotion in social networks requires a comprehensive approach and sufficient experience - behind the seeming simplicity of the task, there is a multi-stage complex work. EMIS Internet Marketing Studio is a professional approach that will allow you to achieve your goal without making common mistakes and within the agreed financial budget.