Brands must ensure their social channels are focussed on being聽social not selling says聽HopperHQ co-founder Mike Bandar.
Companies too often use social media as an opportunity for a hard sell, but this could actually end up driving potential customers away says Bandar.
The Birmingham-based Instagram planning and scheduling tool has been included in 老九品茶Cloud鈥檚 101 Rising Stars of Tech聽Start-Ups list and decreases the time it takes to post on the picture-based social platform from on average three minutes using other social media tools to almost nothing.
Bandar says: 鈥淪ocial media is incredibly important for businesses. Marketing has become increasingly two-way 鈥� it鈥檚 about what can I learn from customers and what can they learn from us?
鈥淭he beauty of social is that it鈥檚 social. People aren鈥檛 there to be marketed to, which is why if look at the ROI for Facebook ads it鈥檚 continued to diminish 鈥� partly because of ad blocking and partly because if I鈥檓 only in a room to speak to a friend why would I listen to a brand?鈥�
This, says Bandar, is linked to the rise of influencer marketing, where users see content from people they trust on social media that are still adverts but feel more authentic.
Crucially it also allows brands to position themselves to reach friends of their audiences.
鈥淪ocial media has the opportunity for brands to feel authentic. So many people are doing it in such an amazing way it鈥檚 essential for brands not just to post on social but to use it as a tool to build relationships with audiences and communicate in social ways.鈥�
However, using these channels in the wrong way could also do long-lasting damage to a brand.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e using social as a sales channel that can work to your disadvantage,鈥� says Bandar.
鈥淚f I see your products come up on my feed every few days that鈥檚 amazing. But if there are constant posts saying 鈥榖uy this buy this鈥� then I might unfollow because I might not be in the buying cycle, and it鈥檚 a negative action.
鈥淚t only takes a few pictures that don鈥檛 resonate with a user to get that unfollow and get that negative feeling toward the brand.鈥�