As I’ve been working to collect all the #TRGrules, I have become even more observant as to what people, businesses, organizations, and nonprofits are doing to hurt their success stories on social media.
In recent days, we have seen several recurring errors which may seem innocent the first time but frustrate audiences as accounts make the same mistakes over and over. Here are just three frequent violations:
Posting Facebook links to other platforms: It’s totally cool to want to drive your audiences on social media to your main marketing hub. Unfortunately, if that hub is Facebook then tweeting or Instagramming links to your Facebook page and posts will only lead to frustration. Both Twitter and Instagram, and increasingly Facebook itself, are mostly used by audiences on their mobile devices. If you hit a Facebook link on Twitter, it takes you to the mobile website, not the mobile app. People are logged into the mobile app but, most likely, not the mobile website. When they are taken to the mobile site they aren’t logged into they can see your content but cannot interact with it. This is frustrating.
And something I am guilty of myself when there is no other recourse.
Apologies for Facebook link but if you are an #Entrepreneur here in our #JCMO stop by @CoffeeZone at 9 AM http://t.co/6SvKNVNT67
n— Gus Wagner (@RocketGroup) October 16, 2015
No biographies: I am seeing this happen more and more on Instagram but still see it on Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms. Poorly constructed accounts either provide sketchy details or no details at all in their biographies. I had recent interactions on Instagram with something called the “Tri-City Classic” but their bio and content gave me no idea where these Tri-Cities are located. The Comerica Theatre recently followed me on Instagram, but I have no idea where they are located. I am guessing Detroit, but it’s only a guess.
If you don’t fill out your bios, using all the space and prompts provided to you by the platforms, you are decreasing the chance people who can actually do business with you will actually do business with you. You will also increase your chances of looking like a spammer.
Bad group photos: Everyone is the media these days because we all carry cameras for photos and videos within an arm’s reach (Quick, how far away is your phone from you right now?). We can also share the media we create with hundreds or thousands of our followers a minute later. Life has been like this for a couple of years now so we should all be used to the spur of the moment group photo. There is no need for the subjects in the front row to bend at the knees or waist to allow others to be seen, the photographer should move the group subjects around. Especially if that group photo is being taken in a stadium.
nPhotographers you need to post the best of your photos to social media, not all of your photos to social media. There is never a need to see a dozen photos in a row of the STP (Same Ten People) doing the same thing. Here are some tips about uploading multiple photos to Facebook you should check out.n
A Bonus Thing You Shouldn’t Be Doing on Social Media!
Automating gratitude: There are a lot of great tools out there like this and this to help you manage your social media content and audiences. One of the drawbacks to these tools is the option to express THANKS! to new followers or active listeners. It automatically fills in three or four account handles with a branded link for the company you are working with.
This all seems like a great thing, but everyone involved knows it’s a robot-tweet advertising for the management company. If you see something cool on social media, no matter the platform, take a real moment and leave a real comment or response of appreciation. It may seem like it will take you forever but it won’t and the audience returns will be much greater.
My best RTs this week came from: @semrush @jchapstk @RocketGroup #thankSAll Who were yours? http://t.co/NpSQtBs8Uc pic.twitter.com/x00XssqBIN
n— Janil Jean (@JanilJean) October 16, 2015
With that, thanks (for reals) for reading this far. If you have any questions, comments, or even disagreements with what I have posted here, feel free to comment below or contact me at any time!
PS: Here are some positive pieces to leave you on a high note with:
Dogs and Beer and Social Media
