Could Your Social Media Tactics Be Destroying Your Web Design Business?

In the right hands, social media is an invaluable source of information and a great place to catch new clients. Web designers worldwide rely on a tight social media presence to attract new clients and retain old ones. As great as social media is at propelling your marketing, the wrong tactics can destroy your business slowly but effectively.

Statistics are quite jarring when referencing social media and the direct impact it has on web designers and their ability to get hired. In fact, 47 percent of organizations don’t hire a designer if they don’t have an online presence, and 57 percent simply refuse to hire based on content they found on social media. In the grand scheme of things, it appears many companies are looking for ways to cut their web designer base and simply not hire new ones.

Are your social media tactics destroying your web design business? Let’s find out!

Striking The Perfect Balance

Many organizations rule you out based on the fact you may not have a solid social media presence, but having one without boundaries is also harmful. You must walk a fine line and strike the perfect balance between having a social media presence and creating the ideal profile. Three things you should never do include: avoiding social media, not posting regularly and leaving behind dated information.

Did you know that too much of an online existence can also harm your web design business? Constantly commenting on random topics that don’t fall within your niche industry are also seen as taboo. Clients use social media to gauge your professionalism and your ability to handle yourself in tough situations.

Don’t Post For The Sake Of Posting

Icon Smartphone Media Social Keyboard Social Media

It’s advisable to regularly post relevant content on your social media pages, but not thoughtlessly. Just copy-pasting headlines throughout your profiles and writing content that’s lackluster will cast you in a negative light. You need to contribute valuable content and expertise when you post anything online.

Stay Away From Shameless Self-Promotion!

When it comes to marketing your own efforts, it’s an industry standard to share approximately 20 percent of your own posts and about 80 percent of other professionals’ posts. Having said that, you need to pay careful attention to the content that you’re sharing and recommending. When sharing content, adhere to the guidelines of sharing fresh articles published recently, no SEO spam articles, accurate in the facts posted and in line with your personal beliefs.

Avoid Talking About Risky Topics

Politics and religion are just two of the most notorious topics that no one seems to agree on. As a professional web designer relying on social media to catch new clients, you need to avoid heated conversations and comments on topics that are about bigotry, violence, sex, drugs or politics of any nature.

Perhaps the most obvious mistake to avoid making is bad-mouthing any current or past clients. There are always those clients that are hard to handle and demanding, but publicly shaming these people is not the way to win favors from prospective clients. Never leak any confidential information that your current clients may find sensitive. It’s not only grounds for a lawsuit, but can negatively impact your reputation online.

As a web designer, you need to do your best to stay relevant in the world of social media while also addressing the needs of potential clients. Conducting yourself online in a professional manner will eliminate any potential problems in the near future. The easiest way to determine if something is appropriate or not is to ask this: is it information you would feel okay with people seeing?

This entry was posted in Selling, Social Media Tactics, Web Design, Web Design Business. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply