Are Your Social Media Efforts Backfiring?

While there’s no doubt that using Twitter can be beneficial for many small businesses, it’s not the case for everyone.

The way you use Twitter and the type of small business you have can result in more harm than good for your business.

Read on below to discover five key warning signs that it may be time to stop using Twitter altogether.

• Lack of industry contacts/potential customers

Is there any point in spending your valuable time on Twitter if there are barely any industry contacts or potential clients using it?

For example, if you manufacture medical equipment for hospitals, using Twitter is unlikely to generate you any new leads or increase brand awareness with your target market.

• Poor ROI

Following on from the previous point, Twitter could be harming your business if it’s not delivering a positive return on investment. All the resources you’re putting into Twitter could be better spent elsewhere such as on face to face networking or cold calling.

• You’re becoming frustrated with it

Not every small business owner ‘gets’ Twitter. If you’re not enjoying using it and don’t see how it can work for your company, then you can either get training on how to use it or just stop completely.

If you’re not committed to Twitter but carry on using it, this will come across in your tweets and could end up harming your reputation.

• Your Twitter stream is becoming too ‘social’

Engaging with your followers should be encouraged on Twitter. However, it can be easy to cross the line between business and social. The majority of your followers won’t care what you’re having for lunch or what you’re doing outside of work.

If your tweets on your business Twitter account are becoming a bit too personal or social – you may be doing your business and its reputation more harm than good.

• Your company is getting a bad name

Twitter is a place for sharing opinions and like it or not, some people may voice theirs on your industry or company.

If you’re involved in an industry with an often poor public perception such as double glazing or are deemed to be devaluing a professional service by offering it too cheaply, you may come in for a bit of online criticism.

If you find you’re spending more time defending your business on Twitter than engaging with people in a constructive way, it may be best to walk away and focus on other online marketing methods.

If you liked this post you may also want to read my business Twitter tips

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 1st, 2011 at 8:30 am and is filed under Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.