Avoiding mistakes in social media marketing

Social networks like Facebook are no longer just platforms for private exchange. Companies also use them for contemporary marketing - or at least they should, says Dominik Fürtbauer. However, the speaker and social media expert from Austria warns against an overly unconventional approach. As with traditional marketing, there are also rules for online marketing. It is particularly important to avoid the ten biggest mistakes, explains Fürtbauer. At the same time, it is possible to learn from them how customer loyalty and advertising can succeed in social media.

"Chefsache Social Media Marketing" is the name of the book written by Dominik Fürtbauer together with speaker and advice author Peter Buchenau. It addresses the optimal use of social media for companies of all kinds. However, before delving into the finer points of functioning marketing via Facebook and Co. it is important to recognize the most common pitfalls, says Fürtbauer. "Only then is it possible not to waste too many resources or even act counterproductively right at the start." The most serious mistake of all, however, is to invest nothing at all in a presence on Facebook, for example, in other words to ignore social media. Fürtbauer does not accept the argument that the respective target group is not represented there. "Younger people use just about all social media and they are the buyers of tomorrow!"

Fürtbauer cites the belief in the short lifespan of Facebook, Twitter and other platforms as a second misconception. Because we are becoming increasingly networked on both the professional and private level, no one will want to miss the associated conveniences. In social media, everyone talks to everyone, which is a far cry from traditional advertising. Fürtbauer believes that simply transferring this to Facebook by merely informing current and potential customers there is cardinal error number three. In social media, he says, a company has to establish an expert status, but above all it has to create a basis of trust with users. It's about establishing a community of people who are really interested, not about maximizing the number of people who passively consume information.

Money and strategy needed

Naive ideas about marketing via social media lead to three other mistakes. Many entrepreneurs think they can acquire and retain customers on Facebook for free. In reality, however, campaigns and the experts required for them naturally cost money and working time. In addition, spontaneous, ill-considered campaigns rarely lead to success. Rather, as in other media, sophisticated strategies are an indispensable basis for which, in turn, knowledge of the market, the target group and the optional types of performance in social media is required. Ergo: "Success will only come to those who bring professionals on board instead of acting amateurishly," Fürtbauer is convinced.

For Fürtbauer, the seventh mistake is the uncontrolled spread of the same message over and over again. As an antidote, he recommends pushing the Facebook page and its content in such a way that it reaches the core target group, which can be achieved by addressing them in exactly the right way and constantly varying it. Closely "related" to this is the eighth mistake, namely boring the Facebook fan base. This can be avoided by ensuring that all messages ask the user to make a statement and thus involve him or her in the community. This requires a choice of words that creates tension and arouses curiosity. And above all, it is important to constantly keep in mind one of the most important lessons about social media marketing: Communication is not a one-way street.

Class instead of mass

Finally, the success of social media marketing should not be equated with the largest possible number of Facebook friends. Rather, the composition of the fan base or, more precisely, the size of the intersection of friends and the intended target group is decisive for efficiency. Whether you attract the right users to your site is determined by their behavior. If they visit the site frequently and are also active there, i.e. if they make comments and like posts, then there is a high probability that they are genuinely interested in the company's offerings.

Those who value such fans certainly don't make the tenth mistake, underestimating the potential of active Facebook friends. "Today's customer is not content with buying products, he wants to help shape them," says Fürtbauer. And that's exactly what a provider who moderates discussions on Facebook and takes customers' opinions seriously allows him to do. He has seen through what makes social media marketing a sales turbo: letting people have their say, responding to them, taking on board their suggestions.