One of the biggest reasons people get into trouble marketing their small business online is the common perception that our digital communications are free.
And it’s true: it won’t cost you a penny to go out and set up a Twitter profile – or two, or three, or four.
What’s the big deal if you’ve got an old MySpace page that’s absolutely overrun with spam, or if the phone number for your business is wrong in some local search engine directory? You won’t be fined or incur any financial penalties of any sort.
But as you know, nothing in this world is free. Every single digital marketing mistake your organization makes (and you can discover what mistakes you may have made by performing a digital inventory) comes with a cost. These costs manifest in terms of wasted time and effort – and you don’t pay them. Your customer does.
When your customer searches for your company and they find empty social media profiles, pages full of spam, and incorrect contact information, they’re not accomplishing what they set out to do.
Don’t make your customers pay for your digital marketing mistakes. Luckily, many of the most common digital marketing mistakes are actually relatively easy to fix. And here’s how:
Multiple Populated Social Media Pages
Do you have two Facebook pages, six Twitter accounts, and four Instagrams?
If you do – and it’s not part of a deliberate, articulated strategy – it’s time to simplify. Consolidate when you can. Facebook pages can be merged, for example. In other instances, you’ll want to engage with your followers on each platform and direct them where you’d like to go which is, ideally, the active social media account you’re using on a regular basis.
Don’t forget to close down old accounts if you have decided they are officially obsolete.
Empty Social Media Profiles
During the digital marketing inventory process, you may very well discover that you have social media profiles that were set up but never used. It’s time to make a strategic decision. Do you want to be on this platform? Will it help you connect more effectively with your customers?
If so, start moving ahead and using the tool to promote your brand. If not, deletion may be in order. If you want to keep the presence in order to protect your brand name, but don’t want to use the tool, make sure you have messaging there to make it easy for customers who are searching for you to connect with you.
No Social Media Profile At All
You may discover that a digital marketing tool you thought you never had actually existed. It happens. At that point, be strategic. Is this still a tool you want to have? If yes, move forward and create the missing profile and begin using the tool.
If this tool no longer fits your strategy, no one says you have to set it up.
Spam City
If you have a social media presence that has become overrun with spam, your first step is to look at your website analytics. How much traffic are you getting from this site?
If it’s significant, take the time to clean up the spam, and change your user names and passwords to keep the problem from recurring. If the site isn’t sending you any traffic, decide if you want this profile and, if not, delete it.
Incorrect Information In Local Directories
Edit your profile to reflect the correct information. Make sure to check the site after performing your edits to make sure they’ve updated correctly.
A great trick here is to Google current and past phone numbers. This way your sure not to miss something or cross-check with some tips from this local SEO article .
Moving Forward: The Best Mistake is the One You Never Make
Making sure that all of your digital marketing efforts are accurate, correct, and in alignment with your strategic plans is a form of customer service. When you get it right, it’s easy for your customers to find you quickly.
To make sure that you’re consistently providing this level of customer service, plan on assessing your digital presence at least quarterly.
Oops Photo via Shutterstock
Some organizations end up with multiple social media accounts because they leave the social media up to interns. Sometimes interns forget to leave the log in information and so the new group creates a new Twitter Handle or Facebook page. This is why it is extremely important to have a person who is specifically responsible for all social media accounts to keep the accounts and messaging consistent.
Nick I could not agree more. I see that happen with many people. Businesses need to have a process for storing and passing information on with staff turnover it can not be an after thought. Thanks for sharing.
Susan Payton
The biggest turnoff for me is those empty social pages. Don’t put your Twitter url on your home page if you haven’t touched it!
I agree with your comment. I see this also happen with Facebook or other outlets.