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Today I would like to discuss what agencies should NOT being doing with their social media strategy. There are several common social tactics that are ineffective for your agency, and in many cases, can be damaging to your agency’s brand.
Let’s talk about ‘Like Baiting’. First let me explain to you what this is- it’s very similar to ‘click- baiting,’ and this is a practice of using provocative or controversial headlines to stir up social attention in order to get more clicks and more likes. More often than not the content that comes out rarely provides the reader with any new or insightful information and in most cases has nothing to do with your business objectives. Often people tell me that they love to see all the likes, retweets, and shares from such a tactic but in many cases most people will look at this and consider this spam. Spam does very little for you other than get you into trouble. They provide little to no engagement, and frankly annoy your audience.
Then there’s buying followers and likes. Many businesses are out there buying likes and followers for their social image, but is this a good practice? The answer is simply- NO! Not only is it the opposite of good practice, but in many cases it has the reverse effect on your agency’s image. Google can view the purchasing of likes, and I can assure you they do not look at them in a positive light. In order to have a positive ROI in social media marketing, you need to have the proper strategy to acquire the right audience.
Let’s move on to an area that isn’t talked about quite as much and that’s posting too much. People follow your agency on social media because they like you, who you are, and what you stand for. This allows for a strong connection and engagement with your audience, which in turn leads to a positive performance of your posts and furthering of your agency’s brand. Remember though, we always have to remember that their loyalty does not make them immune to post fatigue. At times, I will challenge you and your social media team to use restraint when posting to your social channels. Before posting, you should really ask yourself and your social media team if your audience really cares about the post. There is no magic formula or number that you need to strive to achieve
Once you have that strategy and ‘posting restraint’ in place, then you need to analyze your agency’s social media ROI. I know first and foremost you are to say social media is an inexpensive marketing channel that we all should be using. Now while that’s true, let’s consider how many hours you or your social media team put into the planning, engaging, and executing your social media strategy. I promise that you’ll see your marketing dollars add up. If you are not measuring, then why are you even spending the time and energy and money with putting together a social media strategy? It is absolutely crucial that you measure your agency’s ROI from social media engagement.
A major no-no is using social media only to advertise. When you get involved in a tactic like this, you’ll see that it won’t take long for your audience to stop engaging with your agency. You’ll also see your customer loyalty and trust diminish if your soul purpose of using social media is to advertise and to sell to your audience. Agency owners need to allow our prospects and clients to understand who you are and what you stand for.
Another major mistake is the leading negative comments. One of the biggest mistakes you and your agency can make is deleting any negative comments. I know you’re probably saying it seems counterintuitive to let these damning testimonials be seen in the social world, but let’s not forget those negative testimonials also allow you a great opportunity to turn a very unhappy customer into a happy customer in a very public forum. First, you need to publicly address the problem within your agency because in many cases it may be an issue that you did not know about. It’s a reality that you may not be able to make every customer and/or client happy, but it’s certain we can use social media to soften the blow and look appealing while doing it. By responding publicly, you can even sometimes turn the conversation into your favor, so with that in mind, address the issue head on and don’t just delete it away. You’re only sweeping the dirt underneath the rug.
By far one of the biggest issues that I’ve run into with agency owners is their lack of a social media strategy. Social media marketing needs to be treated with the same level of care as every other mission-critical part of your strategy inside your agency. You as an agency owner and your marketing team needs to set the time aside to consider what you and your agency want to accomplish through social media and how you are going to get there rather than going into it blindly. I will absolutely admit that there is 100% correct approach to building a strategy for your agency. There are many ways to build a strategy, but there are many variables that can and will factor into to your strategy.
I hope that this article will help you understand that social media first and foremost is here to stay, and every agency needs to have a social media strategy. I hope you’re taking away some very valuable mistakes to avoid. Happy marketing!
