Businesses evolve. Consumers evolve. It’s been ten years – social media has evolved and matured into a valuable marketing platform. So why are so many businesses acting like it’s 2013 – using outdated social media tactics?
Given that we’re in an accelerated environment with nearly every industry discovering that the status quo isn’t effective, it’s prudent to make timely assessments of what social media tactics are working and not working.
Figuring out which social media tactics are least effective isn’t always easy.
Time is a valuable asset. Spinning your wheels with outdated social media tactics can drive you crazy…and cost you money.
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6 outdated social media tactics to give up right now
I typically work with companies who sell to consumers. However, for businesses who sell to other businesses, there’s a lot of good info here for you, too.
1. Publishing content that everyone has already seen a hundred times.
There are “social media providers” out there right now taking your money, providing no real strategy and delivering the barest minimum. I have news for you: that is not social media marketing.
Customers want to know more about your business. Posting benign content isn’t going to bring results. Stories are what attract and engage. What stories can you tell about your business?
2. Chasing Facebook likes.
It’s never been important to judge a business by the amount of likes on their page. Is it good to have more likes? Yes, but only if those likes are people who are your current/repeat customers or they’re people who will someday want to buy from you.
Now that Facebook is pay-to-play and all content needs to be promoted with Facebook ads, there may be less of an urgency to grow your page likes (depending on your type of business).
I’m not saying to stop growing, I’m simply saying that if you have an ads budget, reduce your page like ads budget to 30% or less of your total spend. Allocate the balance to promoting your posts and your products.
3. Blog posts written solely for SEO.
In a buyer’s eyes, nothing is more valuable than content that educates, tells stories and informs. Done the right way, this type of content can be a deciding factor in their purchase.
Content (blog posts) written solely for search engines is typically not fit for human consumption. Most vendors need to scale their products and the problem is that content can’t be scaled.
ProTip: Publish content that is written or produced for humans. Then, optimize it for SEO.
Is it important to optimize your content for search? Of course. One of the goals for your content is to attract search engine traffic…but it’s not the only goal. It’s best to find the balance between engaging content and search engine optimization.
For this blog, I typically write out my post free-style with keywords in mind (but not solely focused on them). When I’m happy with the finished product, I use a handy plugin called WordPress SEO by Yoast to optimize my post for search. Done and done.
4. Trying things once and giving up.
Have you tried Facebook ads before? How about video content? A lot of people try things once, fail, and then never give them another chance.
It takes time and experimentation to figure out what does and doesn’t work on social media for your brand. If you tried Facebook ads once and didn’t like the results, try them again and carefully track your process so you can review it later to see how things can be improved.
5. Relying on organic reach to get through to your audience.
If you’ve been managing a Facebook Business Page over the past few years, you’ve likely noticed a drop in how many of your fans have been viewing and interacting with the organic posts you publish to that page.
The days of organic reach are pretty much over. Social platforms—Facebook especially—are constantly updating their algorithms to favor paid content.
What’s the answer? Appreciate Facebook for what it is and recognize that after ten+ years, everyone must pay in order for people to see their posts.
6. Trying to be everywhere, all the time.
Don’t waste time worrying about every social network available in the universe. It will cause you a lot of undue suffering.
Do this instead:
- Identify your target customers.
- Define the places where they spend their time.
- Pick one network to start with.
- Set a clear path by setting goals and objectives.
- Measure your results and tie your results back to your goals.
Quick Note: It’s very important to claim your social and online ratings profiles, even if you’re not using them right away. If you haven’t yet, make sure you claim them before your competitor does. When you’re ready to leverage other networks, you don’t want to be surprised to find that user names are already taken.
Evolving is necessary with today’s social media. Set yourself up for success by following through on your social media strategy and the right social media tactics for your business.
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