As the new year approaches, it’s time to celebrate accomplishments and successes.
It’s also a time to take a hard look at ways to improve for the year to come.
As the year winds down, it pays to take stock of where one stands, personally and professionally. It’s natural to want to be better at everything one does, including social media.
Here are five ways to do just that:
1. Be smarter with your posting. 2014 offered its fair share of examples of social media mistakes. There were the “gotcha moments” (such as this one involving actor James Franco) and the times brand managers hit the send button without looking closely at the message (for example, when U.S. Airways accidentally tweeted a lewd photo). Don’t rush to update your Facebook page or your Instagram simply for the sake of beating another brand to the punch. Think your posts through. You’ll be better off in the long run.
2. Don’t cross-post from Facebook to Twitter. Or vice versa, for that matter. No matter how many times I or one of my colleagues says that Facebook and Twitter are different social channels, there’s always a brand that decides it’s too lazy to come up with separate posts. Cross-posting from Twitter to Facebook shows you don’t really care about your audience, your message, or, frankly, your brand. People notice and they’ll eventually stop listening.
3. Don’t be so “salesy.” By now, you’ve probably seen that Facebook is going to get tough on businesses, big and small, that post items heavy with sales speak. While some businesses are worried, they shouldn’t be. A smart business strategy on Facebook should involve posts that speak to fans, not sell to them. People who follow brands on Facebook or Twitter probably already like the product. Brand managers must speak to customers as people, not numbers.
