Small Business
5 Social Media Mistakes to Avoid
Social media mistakes to avoid as a small business owner

It’s hard to imagine life without social media today, and it’s the default channel of choice when advertising your business. However, while it may seem like the easiest avenue given the amount of time people spend on their mobile devices, it’s also one of the easiest forms of advertising to get wrong, or make serious mistakes in, which could lead to significant brand damage to your business.

Below we share some of the easiest mistakes to make when advertising your business through social media:
 

1.Bad quality photos

Regardless of the platform you’re on, using bad quality photos will do your business a huge disservice and make you look unprofessional. The good news is, outlaying thousands of dollars on a professional photographer isn’t the only way to take good quality photos these days (although if you have that kind of budget to spend, then go right ahead). With a recent model smartphone, and a few photo editing apps, you can take photos which look as close to professional as you can imagine. If you’re not posting your own photos, consider buying a subscription to an image library – avoid using images which you found on search engines, as they’re likely to have copyright and/or watermarks on them.

2. Spelling & grammar

Thanks to autocorrect and spellcheck being built into almost everything we use, basic grammar and spelling skills may be slowly deteriorating. If you’re using a desktop to post to social media, some platforms will alert you to spelling mistakes, but if you’re posting from your mobile, make sure you double check every sentence, and have a colleague proof read before posting.

 

If a customer has left a review or compliment, be sure to thank them, and if a customer complains, address the complaint, and ask for the opportunity to make amends.

3.Not respond to comments or questions

No one likes being left on ‘seen’ (we think it’s the unofficial equivalent of being ignored), so this also applies to potential customers who contact you via social media. Don’t wait to be asked a question to answer, try to respond to every comment, negative and positive. If a customer has left a review or compliment, be sure to thank them, and if a customer complains, address the complaint, and ask for the opportunity to make amends.

4. Not post regularly, or post too often

It might be perfectly acceptable to be a ‘lurker’ on your personal social media account, but not on your business page, so make sure you have a regular stream of posts for your business page. On Facebook,experts have traditionally recommended 2 posts per day, but this is only if you have a following of more than 10,000. If you have a smaller following, there are a few factors you will need to consider to help you decide how often you want to post.

5. Treat all platforms the same

Yes – many of the platforms now have very similar features – features such as ‘stories’ are available on multiple platforms, and video streaming is available across all players. While consistency is important, also keep in mind the platform you’re on and adjust your posts accordingly. Here is a  useful guide we’ve found which can help you work out how to adjust your posts for each medium.

When deciding what to post to your business’ social media account, simply think of how you use social media – what makes your thumb stop scrolling? Keeping a customer lens over everything you post will help inspire you to create posts that are thumb-stopping, and help build up your follower base.

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The views expressed are those of the interviewee only and do not necessarily reflect those of Aon. Aon has taken care in the production of this document and the information contained in it has been obtained from sources that Aon believes to be reliable. Aon however does not make any representation as to the accuracy of the information received from third parties, nor its suitability of fitness for any purpose. This information is intended to provide general information only. It is not intended to be comprehensive, nor does it, or should it (under any circumstances) be construed as constituting legal advice. You should seek independent legal or other professional advice before acting or relying on any of the content of this information. Aon will not be responsible for any loss, damage, cost or expense you or anyone else incurs in reliance on or user of any information contained in this document.