Knowing the latest trends on social media is essential for every business owner, yet knowing the culprits for unsuccessful marketing is as well essential.
It doesn’t matter how hard you try to choose the best content or use popular platforms if you are not aware of the most common social media mistakes.
Mistakes to Avoid
Below we have pointed out 9 mistakes that you should avoid:
Starting Your Social Media Exposure Without a Plan
You should think that having a plan, before embarking on social media is a no-brainer, but many companies forget or don’t make a plan, they just start posting on social media, and that can make more problems than benefits. Don’t think that social media marketing is a joke! Take it seriously, because those kids that are using social media, are now full-grown, and it is a great platform to present your company and product.
It’s not that hard to make a social media marketing plan. Before you start, think about your goals and what would you want to achieve. After that, a particular plan of action that you should follow is a must. Of course, the budget is always a thing. Make your whole plan that suits your budget, and then start.
All of these actions will allow you to measure your results, and to adjust your tactics and approach.
It is just the beginning of this list, but if the foundation is not good, you can’t expect great results. It is all connected. So, with the proper marketing plan on social media and through all of the rest marketing channels, your sales team has an easier time. They can focus on inbound leads, and from those leads, the conversion rates are much higher. But, this is a post about your approach on social media, so if you would like to find out more about the connection between marketing and sales, you can visit this link.
Let’s carry on.
Defying Target Audience is a Must
Knowing your audience is an essential part of building a successful plan.
You know the old saying “The customer is always right.”
And let’s not kid ourselves, these sentence is true. If there are no customers, there are no sales, if there are no sales, there is no revenue, and to skip a few steps, your company is gone. So, don’t let that happen, analyze your target audience, make your social media marketing more attractive to them, and you and your product/company will strive.
Always be interested in people who buy your product.
Photo by Melanie Deziel on Unsplash
Thinking every social network is the same
This is one of the biggest mistakes that a lot of brands make. Many brands publish the same content in the same formats with the same copy on all their social platforms.
Every social platform is unique in many ways. Different social media channels have different strengths, characteristics, marketing tools, and also different audiences with different demographics, behaviors, and interests.
So keep in mind that your updates and marketing strategies for each social network should be specific and tailored to the audience on specific platforms.
Sharing too much
I understand that it can be difficult to get people’s attention on social media platforms, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, or Twitter. A large number of people are already present on these platforms and there is a chance that your social media posts will get lost in the already strong brand content.
Simply, posting multiple times in a short period and extensive use of capital letters on these platforms will not necessarily help you attract attention and encourage engagement in your posts.
To be honest, stay true to yourself. Promote your business the same as you would like to see somebody else posts. Be consistent, be what you are, represent your product without trying to get ‘the word’ about your brand around by any means necessary, and don’t worry, you will grab the audience’s attention.
Don’t Forget To Engage in Conversations
This is a tricky one.
Your content might be great. A lot of time and effort is invested in them, but nobody is commenting or sharing them, and that is a bit problematic.
Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash
Maybe you missed your targeted audience with your current content creation, it happens. But not reacting to this issue, that is a problem. Your brand content on social media must provoke a reaction and try to start a conversation about your product.
If you are not getting it done, try reconsidering your current strategy, and making some adjustments.
When a conversation is started, be sure to react. Get involved, and do it on a more personal level, don’t just high five emoji them, make sure that everybody has a unique response, because that will connect them with your brand, and we all know what is the next step.
Copy-paste on all social networks
Each social network has its limitations, unique users, strategies, what to and should not do, etc. Facebook is mostly for sharing moments with friends, LinkedIn for professionals, Pinterest is a place to find inspiration for everything, you get the point.
Furthermore, Twitter posts, for instance, are limited to 140 characters and do not copy and paste the same posts. Every channel should have its strategic plan and custom posts.
Unique takes time. Unique will make you and your product better, and in the end, it will make more sales, which is the whole point.
No human touch
For brands, social media profiles are a place where they can show their human side and connect with people who think the same. Just as people greet and connect, so should your brand page.
Social media is for socializing, use it to show your audience that behind your brand is a person, or a team, that is just like everybody else. They have good days, they have bad days, and your social media marketing can match those days with posts. Make a connection with people, it will help you.
Note: Memes are a great way to achieve this connection.
Using poor-quality visuals
To attract the attention of the target audience on social media, you have a window of opportunity, so you can’t afford a bad visual display.
Social media design must be at the forefront of your strategy. Make sure you have someone in the house or an agency partner who specializes in marketing and sales.
Trying to do it all by yourself
It can be a big challenge for one person to take over the whole social media strategy, and make it successful. There is no autopilot for social media, it takes time, resources, and special skills.
If your brand wants to use all the power of social media, you will need a dedicated team at home or a partner in the agency.
Hope you enjoyed this little article, and if you did, let us know in the comment section.
Author’s Bio
Vladimir Milić is a Senior Digital Marketing Manager whose primary passions are SEO & SMO. For the last 5 years, he has been working his way up in the digital marketing world, primarily focusing on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to help his clients’ businesses reach higher levels of profit and success. He is a co-founder at SkaleUP where he is in charge of creating inbound strategy for B2B SaaS startups.