As of January 30 of this year, more than 4.5 billion people now use the internet, according to We Are Social. Of the 4.5 billion people who use the internet, 3.8 billion are on social media. That is nearly 60% of the population. If you are trying to market yourself or your brand, the most obvious way to show people who you are is to use social media. However, before you do that you need to know how to connect with your audience without losing their trust, in this post, we’ll provide an all-encompassing rundown of the five social media marketing tactics that are dead.
Misleading Social Media Game Ads—You’re not fooling anybody
I can’t tell you how many games ads I’ve seen where the game is nothing like the advertisement. If your consumer downloads the games—and that’s a big if—they will soon see that the game is nothing like you advertised. What happens next? They delete it and don’t trust your brand again.
Advertising in the Middle of Videos—They’ll keep scrolling
If you’re going to place an ad, do it on the front end. I can’t tell you how many times I have stopped watching a video on Facebook because it was in the middle of the video. By placing your ad upfront, the audience knows what to expect, and they know they won’t be bothered once the video starts. By placing an ad in the middle of the video, you’re not only annoying your audience, but you are making them question if this is the only ad that will interrupt their video. What happens next? They keep scrolling.
Social Media & Fake Accounts—Your audience knows it when they see it.
It’s pretty obvious to spot a fake account when you see one. They only have posted about certain products and have close to zero followers. According to Crunch Growth, 26.5% of Facebook Accounts, 17% of Twitter accounts, and 40% of Instagram accounts are fake. Once a consumer sees that you are using a cheap marketing tactic to increase your posts interactions, they’re going to lose their trust in your company and brand.
Non-Native Paid Advertising—Most stick out like a sore thumb
A paid advertisement is easy to spot when you see one, especially if the content doesn’t look native. The easiest fix for this is to make your advertisement look like native content. This isn’t to say you should make a cheap post like “OMG I love my [insert product here]. You can buy it at [insert link here]. Instead, make your company seem human. Genuine content makes readers want to click on your profile and take a closer look.
Mass Following to Gain Followers—Are you trying to look desperate?
Yes, the point of social media is to be—you guessed it—social, but mass following users so that you can get more followers is not the way to do it. Accounts that do this are easy to spot because they tend to have a crazy unequal follower ratio. The ratio we view is when you are following more users than users following you. This makes your brand seem fake or of low value. Users will see this as your brand not being genuine and won’t want to interact with you.
Although social media is a place of free expression, there is a wrong way to market on these platforms.
Remember to avoid the following:
- Mass following
- Non-native looking paid advertisements
- Using fake accounts to boost your posts interaction
- Placing ads in the middle of your videos
- Using misleading game advertisements
If you have any questions about social media marketing tactics that are dead or would like a consultation, reach out to us.