4 Fatal Mistakes That Can Spell Disaster for Your Social Networking Strategy
Posted on : 07-06-2010 | By : Alfandi | In : Social Networking Marketing
If your networking efforts are not giving you the results you hoped for, there is a real chance that you might be making these mistakes in your social networking strategy:
1. Lacking The Right Attitude
You need to remember the basic function of networking when you are trying to get the best out of it. The purpose of your Social networking strategy is NOT sales! The purpose of networking is to know more about your customers and acquire a more stable relationship with them. If you try to go for sales right away, the only thing you end up with is a bad reputation and irate subscribers. Your subscribers first need to know you, and then trust you before they buy anything from you. You can indulge in sales AFTER you have built up a relationship- but don’t even THINK about it right away!
2. Failing To Have A Social Networking Strategy
Never go into social networking before deciding upon what you need from it. It is very easy to lose sight of what you wanted from it in the first place. This is one the best platforms to improve your visibility and your reputation. You will generate more and better business when you are visible on these networks. You can increase your visibility by posting at forums, writing articles and the like. Another great way of improving your reputation is by getting reputed concerns or people to endorse you on these forums. Remember, the success of your social networking strategy will depend on you having a clear idea about what you expect from it.
3. Looking For Quick Gains
The basic problem with a number of social networking strategies is that people expect very quick results out of them! We have come across a number of concerns that have just given up on these strategies once they have failed to get the expected results out of them in a few weeks or months. Your networking is about building relationships with unknown people- so it WILL take time. Don’t expect this to show results in a few weeks or even months. On the flip side, once you have a successful social networking strategy in place, the results will come faster than you anticipated! Give it some time before you decide whether it was successful or not!
4. Stressing On Numbers, Rather Than On Quality
Membership at a number of sites and thousands of followers are all very well for your ego- but are they really effective as networking results? They are not. Stress on the quality of the relationships you are building, rather than on the numbers. This will be a better social networking strategy!
Avoid these mistakes in your social networking strategy and develop relationships that endure!
Valuable post. Most of businesses fail in their social marketing strategies due the above mentioned reasons.
Thanks for sharing.
I’m signed up on Twitter and Facebook, et al, but really don’t take much advantage of these sites. I think they’re great resources, but as you say, they are not a quick fix or means in regards to marketing. For me, its a question of where I want to spend my time making connections. Online in cyberspace, or out and about meeting people and doing things. My preference really is for the latter.
That being said, I do want to get more involved in the online community thing and over time I will. The advice you’re giving is not new to me, but it does help to affirm my own beliefs. Thank you for your post!
Mike
Social networking is things where we have to be patients for the results.The basic problem with a number of social networking strategies is that people expect very quick results out of them! We have come across a number of concerns that have just given up on these strategies once they have failed to get the expected results out of them.
Great post, very insightful. It is very important for managers to understand that a social networking strategy does not always generate direct sales, but it helps your organization build brand awareness and loyalty, which pay off in the long term.
One fatal mistake I often see on Twitter is businesses that think they need a presence on here, sign up and then immediately start promoting their products/offers. This is totally the wrong way to go about it. Social media is all about building relationships, if then you see an opportunity to promote a product or service whilst offering helpful advice, then that will be much more widely accepted.
I think most commonly reason that a social networking fails is caused by Failing To Have A Social Networking Strategy. I personally think that one must always obtain new and fresh ideas every now and then. This is an informative site, come back for more reading.
The main reason people fail at this is they give up easily and don’t give it enough time.
Brilliant advice. I have seen many clients fall victim to the points you raise here. Social networking is all about ‘networking’. All done drip by drip.
Very useful advices to consider, thanks a lot. I was looking for some of these tips
Great post. I too agree that the basic purpose of social media marketing is relationship building. I have seen many small scale business owners who have failed to identify this purpose and used social networking sites solely to boost their sales. Though sales is important, you must first try to develop a good relationship your your existing and potential customers. There are many on Facebook, whose target is to add as many fans as possible on their page within a short period, without considering the quality of those fans. Social media marketing is a long term process, and it will be a mistake to expect overnight result.
social networking is all about engagement, you wouldn’t go up to a stranger in the street and start selling them on your business, you have to do it slowly and you have to listen.
That’s a social network, yes, but it’s not one that reflects your real-life relationships.
Your idea about social networking strategy mistakes is really useful.I learn more today.Thank you .
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Such kind of post giving us various knowaledge,it worthy to read.I am looking forward other of your articles.
The purpose of networking is to know more about your customers and acquire a more stable relationship with them. If you try to go for sales right away, the only thing you end up with is a bad reputation and irate subscribers. Your subscribers first need to know you, and then trust you before they buy anything from you. You can indulge in sales AFTER you have built up a relationship- but don’t even THINK about it right away!
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