Follow These Five Tips For A Successful Social Media Marketing Strategy

It’s no surprise by now that social media can be used very effectively in marketing. It doesn’t matter what size your business is, you can’t deny how helpful social media can be in your marketing strategy.

However, there are some things you really need to avoid if you want to stay on top and not cause any legal trouble for your business.

So, luckily for you, we’ve got a handy little list of 5 things every company needs to avoid in their social media marketing strategy.

1) COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

It is never too late for a company to start on social media, but one of the first hurdles is choosing a logo and setting your profile pictures. These are what your clients and customers will see straight away when they search for you. But choosing the right style can be hard.

If you think you’ve found the perfect logo that represents you and your brand, but it is already in use by another company, then there’s nothing you can do. You’re going to have to keep looking I’m afraid!

Taking inspiration from your competitors or brands you like is fine, but you can’t copy them outright. It doesn’t matter if they’re in a different country, it is their intellectual property, and those laws hold up across borders. If they are a copyrighted and patented item, then they will win whatever case you throw at them.

It isn’t a problem if you want to use someone else’s logo for inspiration, but you should sit down and talk with a graphic designer to really pick out the elements of the design that you like, so they can create something incorporating these features into something that is truly uniquely yours.

2) ALWAYS ASK PERMISSION

The next faux pas we often see is people using images without permission from the owner. It might seem a little bit futile and pointles, but if you haven’t taken the photo yourself then that image does not belong to you. Simple!

Often, if you ask politely, they will give you permission to use it freely. But in some cases there might be a licence fee, which you can work out on a case-by-case basis. It’s the same for using images of individuals as well. You should make sure that the individual gives you permission to use the image of them on your site and socials, even if you took the image yourself, it is their face after all.

But, if you want to stay clear of all of that then you can use royalty free images from sites such as Pexels, Unsplash, and iStock. They are a great way to get a quality image that you know is free to use time and time again. It allows you to bypass all the legal mumbo-jumbo.

3) PAID INFLUENCER ADVERTISING

Another great strategy for most marketing plans is to use influencer advertising. They can be a great way for companies to spread the message about their business. Influencers often promote products, brands, or businesses in exchange for free goods or for a fee.

Although, if you chose to use this strategy you have to make sure that the influencer marks their post as sponsored by you. If they don’t their followers, and your brand, can come across as misleading, which can be a problem for your company! So, avoid this by ensuring that whoever you use as an influencer states that their post is sponsored. Remember, companies are just as liable to punitive actions as the individuals doing the posting!

4) CONTESTS AND GIVEAWAYS

Hosting contest and giveaways with your customers and clients can be a fun and engaging way to gain traffic to your social medias and website. But, here’s the catch! There are always terms and conditions, and your customers need to be aware of them. You can’t mislead them and not include details of the T’s & C’s, or if you think they aren’t that important, think again!

There are actually companies that are dedicated to running social contests, such as DojoMojo, and free tools you can use to help run a successful social contest, such as Rafflecopter. These make giveaways and sweepstakes easy to organise and keep everything completely legal.

5) NEVER SLANDER

Last, but far from least, do not ever slander your competitors. It doesn’t matter how tempting it is, or how right you think you are in doing so. This is probably the worst thing you can do for your company.

Making sarcastic comments or trying to bring down your competition by jabbing at them through the comments of their posts might seem like fun banter, but there’s often a team of lawyers behind a big company, and smaller businesses won’t hesitate to protect their name either.

The general rule of thumb for social media is to never post something you would not say out loud to someone’s face. If you wouldn’t walk into a competitors shop and say something to the owner, don’t say it on the Internet!

Before you know it the whole situation will be blown out of the water, and once you’ve posted something on the Internet it is there forever. Even if you delete it, someone has the opportunity to screen shot and save the comment to use against you later on, so it’s best to not bother.

 

So in conclusion, social media is a great resource for businesses, small and large alike. You can compete with huge companies and communicate directly with your customers, who at the end of the day drive your success. But it is all too easy to make a silly mistake that could have been avoided and ended up doing you more harm than good.

By avoiding these practices you’ll create a social presence that is uniquely your brand, and your customers will remember you for doing it right.