Image courtesy of Alan Reeves’ photostream
Whether you fashion yourself as a social media aficionado or a technological novice, I’m sure you’ve come across a plethora of things you should be doing on social media to promote you and/or your business. A quick Google search will get you hundreds upon thousands of tips, most of them helpful, but how often do these things tell you exactly what you shouldn’t be doing?
In the light of changing things up a bit, here’s a satirically-driven list of things you should NOT be doing (again, DO NOT DO THESE THINGS) with social media:
1. SELL, SELL, SELL!
You’ve got the best product in the market and people should know about it! Instead of cultivating relationships with your customers and prospects you should instead make your page strictly about getting people to pay you for what you provide, nothing more.
2. Take Sides on Sensitive Issues and Talk about Things Outside of Your Market
Of course you want to be “hip” on social media and occasionally discuss exciting innovations and products in your market with your followers, but why stop there when you can beat them over the head with things that don’t even matter to them? Besides, people are going to thank you for letting them know the latest celebrity gossip and political news!
3. Make Sure Not to Link Your Organization’s Website to Your Social Media Page
Sure it might be helpful to your page’s followers to know more about you and your organization, but why do that when they’re already looking at your Facebook account… that should be more than enough information!
4. Don’t Educate Yourself on what Other People/Organizations are Doing in Your Market
Yes, it’s incredibly useful to see and understand what works in your market by observing the competition, but you’ve got a great product/service, right? Why worry about the other guy when you know you’ve got a winner!
5. Spend a Lot of Time Each Day Looking at Social Media
Ignore the people who tell you your time on social media should be limited to about 20 minutes each day for maximum efficiency and spend as much time as you can looking at everything online, maybe even play a few of your favorite Facebook games while you’re at it!
As you’ve likely gathered at this point, these five suggestions are examples of what not to do for successfully utilizing social media as an organization. In fact, you’ve likely also picked up on the fact that the themes of the actual tips, the correct things to do with your social media accounts, were underlined. Remember, social media is about PEOPLE and their interests and how it relates to you and your organization. Take a few minutes each day to interact with your contacts and keep your messages relevant to your market and organization’s mission statement; ensuring it’s in line with what your organization represents and offers.
For some bonus reading, check out this list of things NOT to do on Social Media.