top 10 social media mistakes and how to avoid them

T: 07917 360222 www.frontofmindcoaching.co.uk


Top Ten Social Media Mistakes to Avoid

Greg CooperFront of Mind Coaching

B2B Marketing Coach, Social Media Trainer, LinkedIn Specialist


Social Media Safety Announcement


“Social media is like teen sex Everyone wants to do it. No one actually knows how. When finally done, there is surprise it’s not better.”

Avinash Kaushik


Mistake #1

“It doesn’t apply to my business”



“My customers are not social”


Time spent on line by UK citizens (289 minutes per day) Source: McKinsey Report 2013


UK Social Media Use• 57% of population use social media every day • In Europe UK is #2 on Facebook and Twitter• The average consumer consults 10.4 sources

when making a purchase decision• 60% of the B2B purchase journey is undertaken

without engaging a sales rep• 66% of B2B decision makers say they use

LinkedIn when identifying suppliers


Your employees Your customers Your competitors

Who is on social media?


Mistake #2

Jumping in without a plan


Decide what you want to achieve• What are your business objectives for social media?• Who is your target audience?• What are their social media habits?• Which social media channels will you focus on?• Who will be overall responsible and who will contribute• What resources will be needed• How will integrate social media into the marketing plan?• How will you measure success?


Mistake #3

Treating social media as just another sales channel


Instead of:

• Broadcast• Broadcast• Broadcast


• Listen

• Engage

• Invite


Basic principles

• Find your audience• Develop and deliver relevant content• Get to know your audience• Add value to the relationship• Invite participation


Mistake #4

Putting the wrong person in charge


Being under 25 is not a social media qualification


Mistake #5

Focusing on quantity not quality


It’s about engagement and conversion


But you do need a critical mass

Building critical mass (Select slide show before clicking on link)


Mistake #6

Having unrealistic expectations


Social media is just part of the marketing blend


Overnight success is the exception


Mistake #7

Trying to do too much ………….or not enough


Is this your social media experience?


Or this?


Better to focus on fewer platforms and get more engagement


Mistake #8

Ignoring negative feedback


http://youtu.be/5YGc4zOqozo


Turning the negative into positive

• Monitor the business’s online reputation• Anticipate negative comments and plan

possible responses• Find ways to make it a positive

experience for the customer


Mistake #9

Not bothering to measure your efforts


There are lots of free or low cost tools to manage and monitor social media


If you don’t know what’s working how do you know what to do more of?

List of monitoring tools

Select slide show before clicking on link


Mistake #10

Failing to engage staff and customers as social ambassadors


It’s a connected world


Employee and customer networks an untapped opportunity?


Telegraph.co.uk


Case Study LinksJamie Oliver food foundationMaersk LineHewlett Packard

Select slide show before clicking on links


• Social media is no longer in its infancy • Focus now on measuring and finding what works and doing more of that• Social media is a very important part of the

overall marketing blend• We need to engage employees and customers• Be part of the conversation• We are all learning


Bath dates for diary

LinkedIn Master Class November 27th

Social Media for Non-Marketers Jan 22nd

Select slide show before clicking on links


Thank you

Greg Cooper07917 360222@gregcoopers@linkedincoachuk

[email protected]

top 10 social media mistakes and how to avoid them

Business