With the increase in online activities in recent times due to COVID-19, having an online presence is very essential. The necessity of owning a social media page where you conduct your business is one that cannot be overemphasized in this digital age.
You have the opportunity to get the word out and
- create awareness about your business,
- increase your customer base,
- have easy and free access to multiple platforms on a global level,
- make it easier for those who need your products and services to find you, and
- build an emotional connection with your current and potential customers.
However, a lot of entrepreneurs find it challenging to run their businesses online and maintain an online presence. This is due to mistakes which cause them to miss out on opportunities to grow a profitable business.
What Are These Mistakes and How Can They be Fixed?
1. HAVING A FAULTY BIO ON YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES
Your bio tells a lot about you at a glance. It is an opportunity to sell yourself and what you do. Nevertheless, you either have inadequate information on your bio that captures what you do and how you can solve people’s problems, or your bio is filled with information that is neither necessary nor business-inclined.
Depending on the platform these are some things that should be in your bio – what you do, what problems you are solving, your niche, contact information, relevant achievements with numbers (data), links to other platforms where your business can be found, Call To Action (CTA) and so on.
2. INCONSISTENCY
If you really desire to have a result-oriented and profitable online presence, then you need to buckle up on your consistency. Show up on days when it feels tough. Show up on days when it looks as if it’s not working. And show up on days when you do not even feel like it. No one-day on, five-days off; 3-days on, 2-weeks off. It would just be a mere waste. Determine that you will be there no matter what. Draw up a content schedule that would enable you post on regular basis.
3. POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE
This includes:
- Not responding to customers
- Late response to enquiries
- Ignoring comments on your page
All this reflects poor customer service. This will ultimately ruin your brand or business because you will keep losing customers. Once the word gets out, people would avoid your business as no one wants to go through such experiences.
4. ENGAGING IN FIGHTS, WORD EXCHANGE AND ABUSIVE COMMENTS WITH YOUR BUSINESS HANDLE
You must not give an opinion on everything you see, hear or read. Be disciplined enough to know that doing such as mentioned above would put you in a bad light and ruin your brand reputation. How to fix this? Keep your opinions to yourself. If you know that a controversy is likely to put your business in a bad light, avoid it. Do not insult people who drop disrespectful comments on your page or about your business.
5. BEING TOO SALESY
If you keep spamming people with Ads and salesy posts every now and then, they would get tired and stop following you over time. Instead of selling all the time, you can focus on sharing valuable contents. Give them reasons to follow and stick with you. This does not only build trust but will position you as an expert in your field.
