Are you an ugly Betty when it comes to social media?

No one ever wants to be told that they are ugly, and people generally do not like calling others ugly. Then again there are those that self absorbed and are so preoccupied with themselves, with no concern for others. Maybe that does not describe you, after all everyone likes you and you are the life of the party. Have you ever met an ugly person? What did that make you feel like? If this is making you uncomfortable it should. Ugly Betty is the one that the kids do not like because; she is not pretty or attractive. Maybe she even has a mean spirit to boot; we all agree that we have seen an ugly Betty somewhere. My point is, no one likes looking at ugly things.

In social media, there are certain things that you can do, that make your brand stand out in a negative way. Most people think that social media is only limited to facebook and twitter, and posting stuff online, and this is not so. When was the last time you looked at a recently done website? Did you see a social media icon somewhere on the website? Yes your website is also part of your social media brand experience, and as such it needs to be handled with care.

What are some of the things that you could be doing, that make your social media look like an ugly Betty online? Let’s start from your website before we go into your mobile apps and social media applications.





a) Could it be that when people go to your website, it takes too long to download?

b) Could it be that when people look at your website, they are turned off
    becauseof too many graphics and colors, making it painful to look at?

c) Do you have some crazy type of music that plays on your website as soon as
    someone loads your page, and graphics are flying everywhere?

d) Could it be that you have a blog that has too much information but very little
    substance?

e) Could it be that your blog is turning people away because you have too many
    products and services that you are trying to sell on your blog. People cannot
    enjoy your content because they are being confronted with a sales pitch every
    which way they turn when they are on your website.

f) Could it be that you have inappropriate content on your website, that is
   Objectionable to your visitors and you have not picked up on that?

g) Could it be that people are being turned off by your website, because there are
    Typing errors on your website? It makes you look sloppy and careless

h) Could it be that you are losing your subscribers because of too many drip feed
    messages from your newsletter sending them junk mail offers and spamming
    their email accounts?  Treat your customers like you would want to be treated,
    do not take them for granted and abuse them with your newsletter. The leading
    marketing gurus are notorious for saying this “The money is in the list”, what
    they do not tell you is that if you abuse that list, you lose money in the final
    analysis when people start unsubscribing from your list.

i)  Are you abusing your blog or website, by posing irrelevant content that does not
    belong there? For example, there is a popular website called fiverr, where
    people do gigs for $5.00, you will be surprised to find people who will post
    other peoples content on their blogs regardless of whether the content that they
    are accepting, is a good fit for their blog or not. Don’t get me wrong, there are
    benefits of using fiverr if you know how to use it wisely, but for the purposes of
    building your social media brand, you cannot just accept other peoples content
    onto your blog wily nilly. It devalues your blog and makes it irrelevant and
    eventually you will get relegated to the search engine graveyard for lack of
    organic content.

Before you start worrying about social media and youtube videos and wordpress plugins and other things like that, clean your brand first. You have heard people say things like “don’t judge a book by the cover”, what they are saying is that you ought to give others the benefit of the doubt before you make assumptions about them. In social media it actually works the other way round. People will look at your social media presence and based on what they see, they will make a determination real quickly as to whether they will stay on your website, come back to your website, like your face book page, or download your mobile app if you have one. You only get one chance to make an impression and that impression has to count for your brand or business. There are millions of websites out there no is obligated to come to your website.


 

Getting people to your website is already hard as it is, to now show them an ugly website only serves as a disservice to you, your company and your brand. Besides, how much money do you have to throw down the drain before you get it? Appropriate business social etiquette is very important to your social media brand. Understand what your brand social network profile is all about, in other words, stay in your lane. Keep your business and personal interactions separate. For example, do not post business related information on your business profile. For instance, you do not want to post pictures of your vacation when you were drunk and or your high school reunion pictures, you get my drift. Doing that just makes your website ugly, as that content becomes objectionable to your visitors and it negatively affects your brand.

This might sound like a contradiction, but its not. Yes you have a brand and an image to maintain online, but that does not mean that your website has to be boring. Create a positive contrast in your social media experience. All businesses have a time when everyone cools off and relaxes, like during company picnics. It makes good sense to post positive content on your blog. Posting a video of you and your employees having good clean fun, on a company trip is good for your brand. It shows that you have a personality. We already know that you are serious about your business. Take a moment and breathe its good for your health.





Social media should not be a stressful experience for your visitors; it should bring them closer to your brand. Do not make your brand ugly by doing all these things described above.

Graham Odenyo is the Social Media Strategist and Project Manager of a successful Digital Marketing Social Media Mobile App Marketing Agency located in North Carolina. We work with companies to help them create and manage their own customized Global Social Mobile footprint plans for their businesses. We are a full services Social Mobile Marketing firm, offering fully customizable Global Social Mobile Footprint plans, from the conception of Mobile Apps to email marketing, to blogging, search engine optimization and YouTube video optimization keyword domination. For more information please go to >> http://affordablemobilemarketing.info , or send us an email at Godenyo@affordablemobilemarketing.info , http://www.linkedin.com/in/lippon/