An IT Guy's Take on Why Your Social Media Efforts are Not Paying Off

Over the years I’ve had many opportunities to see the social media presence of small and large companies evolve over time. Whether right off the bat or slowly over time, some companies really get the basics and have developed what appears to be a meaningful presence. Other companies, not so much.

The following are some quick, off the cuff reasons and ideas as to why I think some company’s social media presence on Twitter is not all it could be.

No Hashtag or Wrong Hashtag

They don’t use hashtags or they use less than optimal tags. There are plenty of tools to help you determine a good hashtag to use. Here’s an article on How to Find the Best Twitter Hashtags. 

Tweet is Too Long

Tweets are often times too long and the length makes it a hassle or impossible to RT. Suggest keeping your tweet to no more than 110-120 characters long at the most. A person shouldn’t have to play with your tweet and perform major editing to get it to fit the 140 character limit.

Little Interaction

The team rarely responds to those who RT or tweet at their account. Even a “Thanks for the RT” or “Thanks for sharing/commenting” can help promote the brand. And many almost never 'engage' by responding to a direct tweet; even if to just say "I agree" or "Tell me more."

No Participation in Tweetchats

I don’t see any participation in tweetchats. There are lots of chats that could be used to promote just about any brand, learn about any topic and/or share any information, ideas or opinions.

Not Leveraging Influencers

I don’t see much – or any - content from influencers being shared. And I don’t see many influencers sharing or referencing their content.

No Pictures or Graphics

It’s been proven over and over that tweets with an image get more attention and RT’s than those without an image. There are plenty of sites that offer free and low-cost images. Suggest using them.
 
Lack of Useful Content

They don’t often share content that can actually help people – I think the “How to” and “Top 10 things” type tweets are good and I don’t often see these types of content emitting from many accounts. Companies should be developing and sharing content about their industry, helping others understand key issues and topics a person in their industry needs to be aware of, etc.

One Size Does NOT Fit All

I don’t think they differentiate the content for different 'end users.' A customer or prospect is way different than a Thought Leader which is way different than an Employer HR Person which is way different than a vendor or possible business partner. 

For more information and ideas about health care information technology, business processes and social media, consider following me on Twitter where I post as @ShimCode