Social media is a quick and easy way of communicating with your customers. But that speed can have its downsides. A hasty post can have devastating consequences in the time it takes to realize the damage it’s causing.
Posting the wrong kind of content alienates readers in no time, and with the unfollow button nearby it’s never wise to upset people unnecessarily.
If you value your follower count, it’s best to avoid the following six types of content when posting to your brand’s account.
1. Negative Posts or Flames
Social media is well known for having its dark side. From behind the safety of a screen, many people feel entitled to post aggressive and angry messages that they wouldn’t repeat in person.
If you find this type of anger is directed at you, it’s essential that you don’t respond in kind. Dragging your brand into a flame war helps no one. It’s far better to keep cool and deal with problem posters politely and professionally.
You may not be able to do much to calm down the agitator, but you’ll leave a much better impression on the silent watchers who are following the exchange.
2. Irrelevant Meme-Surfing
It’s often tempting to post viral content for maximum exposure or to try and tie your brand into popular memes. However, think twice before jumping on a bandwagon.
Your followers will already be receiving viral fluff from all directions, and there’s no need to add to the noise.
By all means, aim for virality if the topic is genuinely related to your brand or niche, but irrelevant posts just waste your customers’ time and they’ll soon leave your account behind.
3. Provocative Subjects
Whatever you do, steer clear of commenting on touchy subjects such as politics or religion – unless, of course, that’s a central part of your brand identity.
Posting on polarizing issues will offend and alienate plenty of your following without showing much benefit to compensate.
4. Shoddy Content Values
Your social media output has a direct impact on your brand identity. If your posts are poorly written, filled with typos and grammatical errors, you’ll just look unprofessional rather than endearingly human.
Take the time to proofread and fact check even the shortest, most throwaway posts, and your branding will thank you for it.
5) Constant Promotion
Although social media can generate profitable traffic, the main aim isn’t direct promotion of your products. A well-run social account should build branding and influence that you can later leverage into sales.
Keep your overtly promotional posts to a minimum, so that you’ll build a strong following who’ll be receptive to the few marketing posts you do make.
6) Excessive Clickbait
Of course, you want your headlines and teasers to catch attention and pull in readers, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of accuracy. If a clickbait-style headline leaves readers feeling cheated and manipulated, they’ll unfollow immediately and won’t return. Make sure your content delivers on the promises you make for it.
Social media marketing is a powerful brand builder, but it can go wrong with disastrous speed. Think twice before risking your reputation with any of these content types, or you could do a ton of damage that’s very hard to fix.
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