Social Media now plays a massive part in any online marketing campaign for a business looking to increase leads and sales. You can guarantee that any current or future landscaping or gardening customer is on social media at some point during the day/week, so using social media has become an essential tool to use.
We notice that a lot of businesses are not getting the engagement or leads that they want. This blog helps to identify some common mistakes that you could be making, and that are easy to fix, to increase your opportunity to engage with your customers more effectively.
Here they the most common social media mistakes, and what you can do to fix them.
Being Inconsistent
People follow brands on social media because they know what they will be getting. This is especially true with big brands that use social media to portray a message that is consistent throughout. So, try and focus on a consistent message or type of post to keep your customers interested.
Also, think about content format. Instagram is an easy example as all content is visual. Here you can think about creating content around a particular day of the week or always having a video posted on a Monday.
On Facebook you can be a bit more creative as Facebook allows videos, photos, text and graphics. As above with Instagram you could create consistency through which format you post on which day. For example, an infographic on a Monday and a video on a Friday.
Consistency also applies to your posting frequency. A social media schedule is a useful tool where you can set up all of your content ahead of time. That way, you can be sure your content will go out even if you are busy.
Ignoring Your Audience
Responding to a comment on social media is an important part of your overall strategy. Don’t just respond to problems, try and find the time to respond to a large proportion of your comments to increase engagement as people like to know you are reading what they write.
When it comes to complaints, respond to them too. You will greatly increase the likelihood that a customer will share their positive experience with their followers.
Not Using Social Media Tools
Every social media site has tools you can use to help you to increase engagement with your audience. For example, Facebook has a tool called Facebook Insights. There are a number of metrics on there to help you determine –
- The best time of day to post
- What content gets the most engagement
- Who your followers are
- Where your followers are located
Another example is post scheduling, there are a number of tools you can use for this. Facebook has a tool called Facebook Creator Studio which can be quite useful.
Using the Wrong Social Media Sites for Your Audience
Few businesses have the time or budget to maintain an active presence on every social media channel. For any landscaping or gardening business it’s important to firstly research which sites your audience use.
For example, if you are targeting an older audience Facebook is your main focus. For younger audiences Instagram and Tik Tok are more appropriate. If you have lots of visuals of your work, then Instagram is also a good idea.
YouTube also plays an important role as it is the second most used search engine after Google so should not be ignored.
Once you know where to find your audience, drop any social media profiles that don’t make sense and focus on the ones that do. Read more about how we can help with your social media content here.
Not Following Site Rules
Each social media site has rules for content. Following the rules will ensure that your content is approved and appealing to your followers.
For example, if you are using Twitter you have a limit of 280 characters. That’s a simple one to follow because you can’t Tweet more than that number of characters.
Another mistake to avoid is using your personal Facebook page for your business. Facebook can shut down any personal account it feels is violating its terms. You need to set up a separate business account if you are going to use Facebook for your social media.
On Instagram you are not allowed to add any links to your website on your posts. The only place on Instagram that you can put a live link to your site is in your profile. There are other standard practices related to how many hashtags you can use.
Leaving Social Media Out of Your Marketing Budget
With its huge number of users Facebook is a great marketing channel to reach a large number of potential customers – so if your landscaping or gardening company is not active on Facebook now is the time to invest some time in it.
With the growth of Instagram and YouTube, these channels can also give you the opportunity to engage with new customers and shouldn’t be ignored.
Contact us Today
Social media marketing can help you get results if it is done properly. Why not contact us today to see how we can help you build a measurable social media marketing campaign to grow your engagement online.
