Social media. We know the deal here, right? Some tweets. Some likes. A few dozen comments and a gif for good measure.
It’s not a top secret recipe.
And yet – nearly everyone is guilty of the following social media fails. How many do you clock up?
1. Selling on purpose
We all have something we want to sell. Whether it’s tickets to our next show or even just that jumper you bought off Ebay months ago and have never worn, we’re used to seeing sales messages on social media.
If you’re using social to build awareness of yourself and your brand however, you need to try and avoid the hard sell.
Why?
Because people don’t like following accounts where they think they will get sold to all the time. It’s not fun for them (I mean, how passionate can someone be about a 20% discount on lawnmowers? Hmm?
2. Not secret selling
So here’s the secret. You sell. But you do it in a more roundabout way with some personality, fun and intrigue thrown in for good measure. Have a look at these two tweets:
Guys! Please buy tickets and come and support me on stage, www.ticketlink.com, it would be great to see you all.
Vs.
First dress rehearsal today! How’s my makeup looking for [insert production name]? http://www.ticketlink.com *With relevant image attached*
Which of those two tweets would you be more likely to click on?
The second one, right?!
Show us why we should come and see your show rather than ordering us to buy tickets!
3. Information broadcasting
This is a fancy way of saying ‘talking at people all the time on social media and never actually having a conversation with them.’
This happens when you view social media as a checkbox exercise. You log on, post your tweet, log back off and continue with your day/week/year. Wrong! You’ve just put something out into the world. If Sally from Rochester has decided to reply to you with a salsa dance emoji, then you need to engage with Sally (not salsa-ing, well maybe if that’s what you enjoy) and at least say thanks for the interaction.
Remember, you’re here to be social with people, not just yell at them from the safe confines of your laptop.
4. Ignoring the wider conversation
So back to Sally from Rochester, you need to engage in other conversations as well, not just the ones about you.
Get involved in topics you’re interested in (and that are on brand), but also show interest in other people and events in your industry. Being an active member of the wider social community will mean you get exposed (not like that) to new people, who in turn will get to find out about you. Win!
5. Posting natively (ohhh some social media jargon)
This is a mistake people make especially with Twitter.
‘Posting natively’ means logging onto twitter, clicking ‘write tweet’ and then typing it out there and then and clicking ‘tweet’.
“But how else would I post?” I hear you ask! There are a bunch of social media schedulers (watch out for the post on this) and tools that make it a lot faster for you to post online with the added bonus of being able to track all the good clicks and comments you get. Plus you can post on more than one site at the same time and view it all in the same window.
Magical huh?
So those are our top 5 social fails. How many did you get?
Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is a group of creatives with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping our way into the arts industry and helping other creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.
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