Here is what you did:
You either hired a “Social Media Expert” or you did it yourself. You created a Facebook page, a Twitter page, a Linked-IN page, a Pinterest board, a Google+ page, and an Instagram page. Your trusty expert, or you, scheduled a bunch of messages to auto-post every 120 minutes; mostly useless quotes and quirky sayings. Now you are sitting back and trying to figure out why your Social Media Marketing Strategy failed.

Here is what you should fix:

1.  Pick your brand.
Which Social Media platform is right for you? All of them? Pick the platform that would reach your potential market with the highest numbers. I know the temptation is to utilize all of them. Pick your priority. For example, my author friend uses Twitter, Facebook, and Linked-IN; in that order, without thinking about the other platforms. Prioritize which is your best avenue and spend the majority of your time building that community first.

2.  Trust & Credibility.
Your Social Media Marketing campaign should put you in a position of expertise. Your community and followers should consider you the expert when it comes to your profession. Sometimes, this means that you teach, you tutor, or you advise. Once you establish yourself as an expert in your field, then it becomes easy to start converting visitors into prospects.

3.  Sales Process.
The biggest misconception about Social Media is that business owners attempt to build awareness and a following to their brand. Did you know that in 2014 only 29% of all Social Media Traffic follows a Brand? The purpose of your Social Media Marketing is about turning prospects and leads into customers.

4.  Engage.
Don’t just post because that is what you are supposed to do. Provide value to those who follow your brand. Also, remember to share their content that might be relevant to your community. They will recognize your efforts and will most likely return the favor. Remember, your fans and followers don’t want commercialized content, they want conversation.

5.  Automation.
Social Media automation is quickly becoming the frown of the market. Ever follow someone on Twitter and you receive an instant message directing you to their Facebook page for an additional Like? Your community will fast recognize this lazy behavior and drop you like yesterday’s garbage. Sincerity and interaction will go a lot farther than automation.

6.  Commitment.
You spend 10 minutes a day on Social Media. Now you ask why your Social Media Marketing is failing. Social Media is like a marriage. It takes time to nurture and grow. Spend as much time as necessary to engage and converse with as many people as possible about your expertise. Be prepared to do this a few times per day, including weekends. Don’t expect your list of fans, followers, and subscribers to grow overnight. This is a slow process.

7.  Content.
Your goal is quality not quantity. If your Twitter account has 100 followers but every post gets 8 “Favorites” and some Re-Tweets, you are in better shape than a page with 2,000 followers and zero Favorites and zero Re-Tweets. Remember the buzz word “conversation & engagement” the more of this you can promote the more your content will appeal.

8.  Follow your follower count.
A watched pot never boils, right? If this number isn’t increasing with time, you should take a good long look in the mirror and attempt to identify why they are leaving you. Is your content irrelevant? Is your content controversial? Is your content a poor indication of your industry? Can your community relate to your content? Tackle these hard self-defining questions and come up with changes that will bring your followers back to you.

9.  Safety.
Nobody has ever done it this way, why should you? You make your Social Media follow the norm because that’s how they all do it. Is this how you want to run your campaign? Stop playing it safe and take risks. There are 150,000 ways of utilizing Social Media Marketing. All of them were stumbled upon by people taking risks.

“If we are to achieve results never before accomplished, we must expect to employ methods never before attempted.” – Sir Francis Bacon

What Social Media Marketing mistakes have you made that have made the world of difference? 

Related Topic:  Why Instagram is Essential for Your Business Marketing Strategy