Lately, I’ve been writing about what businesses should avoid on social media. Magical thinking is something I come across a lot, and wrote about recently. There are quite a few things to avoid, it turns out! Here are just a few (maybe the tip of the iceberg). And by the way, larger businesses should avoid these things, too. And maybe even some of your friends (ahem!).
Make spelling errors
If you make spelling mistakes, chances are you’ll turn some people off, and they won’t read what you have to say. There are so many ways to check your spelling these days–why not use them? Not only do spelling errors look unprofessional, they’re distracting. Same with grammatical errors–they’re a distraction and are easily avoided. You can use a program like Grammarly (they have a free spellcheck) or even Google docs. And WordPress itself–which I’m using to write this article–has a spellcheck function. You could even get an editor if you needed one.
Sell, sell, sell!
I’ve probably said this a million times, but selling all the time is boring. Any kind of self-promotion all the time is boring. People would rather hear about themselves than about you, and they’re not going to buy from you unless you quit it. What to do instead? Talk about your audience’s lifestyle or their pain points. Unless what you have to share is going to affect a lot of people who have the same pain points as you, direct selling just doesn’t work well on social media. And if you haven’t already read this, you might like: Social Media Isn’t Actually about Sales.
Talk about yourself incessantly
Nobody likes hearing someone talk about themselves nonstop 24/7. If you have a fascinating life, travel a great deal, and have ideas that nobody else has ever thought of you might be an outlier. But for the most part, we don’t need to hear about your breakfast, especially if you’re posting on behalf of a small business. For your private friends, that’s another story altogether! Voicing insecurities occasionally might be ok on a personal front, but on a business account? No thank you!
Not showing any personality
It’s ok to have a personality. It really is. A few weeks back, I talked about Wendy’s and their fun, upbeat personality. Maybe you don’t have someone like whomever does the social media for Wendy’s, but chances are they still have an interesting personality. How could you and they use that personality on social media? How about trying to include some words and phrases that are casual and fun? If you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t heard about Wendy’s social media, you might like: 32 Hilarious Twitter Roasts by Wendy’s That Will Make You Think Twice Before Posting.
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