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With so many businesses using social media these days, the noise can get overwhelming. Some companies use it well and embrace their audience. Others have a seemingly talented means of alienating their audience. If you want to see your fans abandon your page like a flock of birds chased out of their resting place, commit these mistakes on your social media pages.
1. Being Selfish
Yes, your social media pages are a means to “promote” your business. But talking about you and your company 24/7 is a sure fire way to lose your followers. Sharing only your own company-created material will bore your audience.
Instead, share posts from other sources and give credit to other industry leaders. Providing information that your audience will value will keep them coming back for more.
2. Ignoring Your Audience
Taking selfishness to another level, ignoring your audience will leave you with few fans and no engagement. Never asking questions and not asking them to participate will look like you don’t care about them. Similarly, not responding to their comments and questions will send them looking for answers elsewhere.
Instead, take the time to interact with your fans. Ask them questions and invite them to be a part of the conversation. And when they reach out to you, make sure you actually respond to them!
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Jenn's Trends 
Oh number 10 is my personal favourite! I make a point of never doing the action I’m supposed to 🙂
I think that business owners mostly tend to do the opposite of sharing too much personal stuff though. Finding the balance can be tricky.
Haha! I love that you don’t do what they ask. I’ll admit that I have not followed or unfollowed pages because of the incessant use of that tactic.
I agree that there are a lot of business owners who don’t post any personal stuff, but I’d rather err on the side of not sharing, than oversharing.
Great tips to keep you from being totally annoying on Social Media! Over sharing Personal information is something I avoid. It is one thing to refer to something personal in a story, but I figure that my connections will discover enough about me personally through my posts and blog.
Thanks Kim! I’m glad you like them.
I agree, I think people get a lot of my personality from my blog posts. I think it’s good to mix in the occasional “personal” type post on a business page but it’s important to remember that it is a BUSINESS page. Even when sharing personal posts, they should be professional in nature and have some relevance to who you are and what you do, as a business. IMHO.
I don’t know about #5… The inappropriate photos quickly make it to our virtual Wall of Shame (we are running out of room)
Now that’s just plain entertaining, Christopher! You haven’t run out of room yet? When did you start your wall – last week? 😉
The oversharing is my pet peeve. The posts of 8 in a row are annoying. I would think that drives customers away.
Thanks Mary! I agree, the multiple posts in a row are definitely annoying! And the oversharing – people need to remember that it’s a “business” page!
Oops, I’m guilty of number 7. With only 27 blogs under my belt I use lots of external links (always relevant). As my own material grows then I’ll reduce the external links I use. Yet again Jenn you’ve given me food for thought, thanks 🙂
Hey Jason! Just to be clear, in this reference, even your own blog posts would be external links. I’m referring to anything that takes users off of Facebook and to another website (which would include your blog).
I completely agree that we should all share our blog posts and others! This is a high value way of interacting with your audience. And I’m happy to hear that you are sharing other valuable content! This is a good thing!
What I’m saying is that EVERY post shouldn’t be an external link. You should be including text posts, photos, videos, etc. that keep users interacting right there on Facebook.
Good point to raise Jenn. On Facebook I do post far less external posts than on Twitter and on LinkedIn I post links to open up a conversation/debate. I’m getting the balance, especially since reading your blog 🙂
Great! I am guilty of sharing a lot of links on Twitter and LinkedIn as well. I also need to work more on sharing non-link type posts on these sites. However, I do believe that these sites are more conducive (and almost expected) to share more articles and links than Facebook. Best of luck on reaching that balance, Jason!
Jen,
Y’know? Tips 1-6 plus 10 are JUST as appropriate for a cocktail party as they are for social media.
Don’t be selfish. Don’t ignore who you are speaking with. Don’t be negative or overshare personal info. Don’t show inappropriate pics but do break out the kids, grandkids, your recent trip, etc.
Hmm. SOCIAL media. It’s making the world smaller. Thanks Jen for the tips, I’ll try and behave myself and get invited to more parties!
Keep Stepping,
Kurt
You’re right Kurt, a lot of “social media” rules apply to real life too! If you take the assumption that social media is just taking real life conversations to the computer, then this should be easy to do!
I’m glad you liked the post! Have fun at the parties! 😉