Common Mistakes by Social Media Newbies
No matter the size of your business, it is important to be active on social networking sites, especially Facebook and Twitter. Large companies dedicate entire teams to manage and monitor their company’s accounts. Not only are social networking sites a great way to promote products and share news, but they also help put a face behind the company. Many consumers will ask customer service related questions or post comments and complaints about a company on their personal accounts and on the company’s page. Managing a company Facebook page or Twitter account often requires resources that a small business may not have available to them. Consequently, social amateurs tend to make a handful of mistakes that can hurt their image. Here are a few of the common mistakes small businesses make when trying to start and manage their social media accounts: Not Using Proper Grammar You may not use proper grammar when tweeting to your friend or posting on someone’s Facebook wall. In turn, many small business owners make the mistake of believing this is ok for them to do as well when representing their business. Businesses need to act professional in everything they do, including the messages they send on their social networking sites. Whether they post something to all of their friends or send a message to a customer, it’s important to use correct grammar. Becoming a Bot Facebook and Twitter provide a great opportunity to put a face behind the business. However, small business owners tend to talk as if they were the business. When someone posses a question or comment to the business through Facebook, they want to know that a human is responding. Introduce yourself and let the customer know your name when you address them. Close with “Thank you, Adam” instead of “Thank you, Company ABC.” They’ll feel more confident when they see that you are a human and not an auto responding bot. Not Responding in a Timely Manner This problem plagues small business owners who don’t have the resources to manage their Facebook and Twitter all the time. However, it is important to respond to customer’s questions and complaints in a timely manner. When they post something on your wall or mention you on Twitter, their friends will see it. When they see that you were able to address the customer in a quick and timely manner, their friends will be more likely to buy from you since you have great customer service. However, if they see that a concern has not been addressed in over a day or two, they will think that you ignore complaints and questions, and will not want to buy from you. These are the most common mistakes that small business owners make when managing their social media accounts. They go through the hard work of generating several followers and friends, yet make these costly mistakes that everyone can see. Outside of managing the company accounts, small businesses often forget to look for comments or posts where the company is mentioned. There are alerts that can be set up to notify you when someone talks about your business. It might be a conversation between two friends about a negative experience. Sometimes people complain on Twitter and mention the business they are talking about. In either instance, it’s important to send the person a message and take the conversation offline where you can address their problem. The person will then say something positive about your company. It’s important to take all negative mentions and turn them into positive ones, since people turn to their friends and social networking sites for information on products and companies on a daily basis.
Post via Social Amateur
