Here at Ke, we love social media. We think it’s a great way to help supplement your overall marketing strategy and it costs next to nothing to start a social media account or two for your business. That being said, we’ve been in the biz long enough to know that just being on social media isn’t enough; you have to try to follow ever-changing best practices for social media marketing. And if you don’t follow these best practices? Well, then you might be sending potential customers running with these social media red flags.
You don’t respond to comments, reviews, or messages.
It’s important to remember to be social when managing your company’s social media accounts. It’s right there in the name – social media is meant to be a two-way street, a way for your audience to communicate directly with your brand. If you make a habit of not responding to comments, reviews, or messages, your audience might think that you don’t care about developing a relationship with them.
We recommend setting aside 5-15 minutes each day (depending on the number of social media accounts you have and the amount of interaction they receive) to interact with your audience. Reacting to a funny comment left on one of your posts or a quick “Thank you!” to someone that has left you a review is an easy way to begin building a positive social media presence.
You respond to negative reviews in an unflattering way.
Receiving negative feedback is never fun and is even less fun when it’s out there for everyone to see. We’re here to remind you that every business can expect to receive at least one bad review. When it comes to online reviews, we firmly believe that how you respond to the review can tell potential customers more about your business than the review itself.
So, how should you respond to negative reviews? Well, that depends a lot on the review itself and your business. But here are several tips that should apply in almost every situation.
Respond Quickly
We’re not saying you have to respond the moment you see the review. In fact, we know that sometimes a negative review can feel almost like a personal attack to small business owners. That’s why it’s okay to take a few moments to collect yourself.
Try to respond to the review within 24 hours, if possible. Remember, the more time you take to respond, the more people will see a negative review about your business without a response from you.
Apologize
Apologizing to the customer lets them know that you take ownership of the issue and empathize with them. Not sure the negative experience was entirely your fault? That’s okay. You can still apologize that they had that particular experience without ever accepting the blame.
Make It Right
If you can, try to make it right. For example, if the person had a negative experience at your restaurant, you can always offer to send them a gift card to give you another try. And when it comes to this part of the response, we recommend taking the conversation to a private message, if possible
Thank Them
We know this seems a little odd, but it’s always important to thank customers for bringing negative experiences to your attention. Why? Because now you’re aware of the issue and can monitor and fix it to avoid more customers having the same experience.
You haven’t posted anything in months.
Again, we’re back to the “social” in social media. An inactive account is one of our social media red flags because it can cause potential customers to lose interest in your company. Many people visit social media to help them in the purchase decision. If you haven’t posted anything in a while, there’s no content to encourage them to make a purchase.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to spend all day, every day creating content to post. We recommend starting small by committing to one post per week. If you can consistently do that, you can slowly build to 3-5 posts per week, which is the amount we recommend for many small businesses.
Your posts are riddled with spelling and grammatical errors.
Depending on the business, you cant tell us mistakes like these aren’t concerning. Spelling and grammatical mistakes may signal to potential customers that you don’t care whether your communication comes across clear and professional. We’re not saying that one spelling error has the potential to make or break a sale, but a pattern of spelling errors might.
Of all the social media red flags, this one might be the easiest to avoid. There are plenty of different tools you can use to help catch mistakes before publishing posts. Here at Ke, we’re big fans of Grammarly, a free writing assistance tool.
Feeling overwhelmed? While social media marketing is a cost-effective way to promote your business, it’s sometimes a little more involved than business owners think. Don’t fret – that’s why we’re here! We have a whole team of experienced social media account managers that can help grow your business. Schedule a call with us today!