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Three Social Media Mistakes Practically Every Business Makes

Has anyone ever told you that you’re doing social media all wrong? If your like most web publishers, they probably should have.

Social media is a deceptively simple business tool that most businesses, including web-based businesses, usually wind up botching in a big way.

Fortunately, most common of these mistakes involve some relatively simple fixes that can be instituted almost immediately with little or no expense, according to content marketing guru Neil Patel. Patel covered a laundry list of these mistakes in a recent posting titled, The Real Reasons Your Social Media Marketing Has Bombed, and here are three are particularly relevant to casino affiliates.

Too Much Promotion

The most common social media mistake most businesses make is simply engaging in too much self-promotion in the social space.

Yes, we realize that all business involves promotion, but your players, and potential players, aren’t on Facebook looking for advertisements, they’re looking for meaningful content and engagement.

Patel recommends a golden ratio for social media that is split 30/60/10. That’s 30 percent original (but not promotional) content; 60 percent curated or shared content; and just 10 percent promotional content. That’s a great method for staying relevant to your audience, without overwhelming them.

Bad Analytics

How important are social media shares, likes and follows to actual sales? According to Patel, who refers to these as vanity metrics, only about 14 percent of social media marketers think these metrics really matter to their end goal.

The metrics that really matter are more likely to be found on your Google Analytics dashboard under the social tab. This is where you can find out which social networks, and which social posting, are actually driving traffic to your websites – where the actual sales happen.

Timing

Do you post up on Facebook at the same time every day with the same dismal results? If this sounds familiar, you need seriously work on your timing.

For example, the 1 p.m.-4 p.m. time slot yields the highest number of click-throughs on Facebook. This, clearly, is the time of day when the world’s office workers drift off into daydream land and check their Facebook instead of actually working.

While this might not be great news for the bosses of the world, it’s great news for social media marketers.

Because most social media allows you to schedule posts, even night owls and affiliates with audiences in different time zones can take advantage of Facebook’s golden hours.

Finally

Social media isn’t rocket science, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. If you’re looking to actually convert your social media traffic into real live revenue, you need to stop making basic mistakes and start really knowing your audience.