It’s good that anyone can open a social media account. You can make a business page for Facebook or a simple Twitter account; There you can make posts and send updates to your consumer base. But there are some companies who are just not getting the following nor the response that they expect. The following are things they might be doing wrong.

Looking at the Wrong Metrics

It maybe a code of honor or something to show off -- but the fact you have way too many followers can be misleading. Is it on the strength of your content that your following is so large? Maybe you, your social media manager or the people you contracted took part of your social media budget and spent it on “bot” followers? It could be many things, but the best way to get followers is get them organically -- the natural way through attracting them and reaching out to them.

No Plan after the Click

Social media is a great way to get traffic in, but does it just go to a lifeless homepage. Do you have a plan in place that when the user clicks through they will immediately hit a page where they make an action (buy, save, like, subscribe)?

If you make a plan for clickthroughs from social media, make sure they go to an adequate “landing page”. And on that landing page they should explicit information on products and services they might be interested. You do not want your members clicking through and searching for something you can present right away.

Mindless Drones

As much as social media as a tool to post and update the happenings in your company, it leaves the door open for feedback. And once you get that feedback, you must respond swiftly and sometimes, even cleverly. Many brands have come back with witty retorts on Twitter and on Facebook. But do mind that even though you can delete posts and tweets, plenty of users can still screenshot and post everything you write.

So what makes good social media practice? Getting real users is one and responding back to those users is another thing. But creating a place for users to land and make a decision or an immediate action is just as important. It’s hard enough to get followers then click-through but what you do after to retain them to create a lot of revenue for you.

Image credit: Duncan Hull on Flickr