There are many social media users, and it’s now the trend. There’s no more asking people if they have social media, but now, you ask them, “Which social media channel are you using?”. Social media has indeed made our lives easier, and even considering that we communicate through social media, it’s become part of our lives. However, when you run a business, social media should be used to communicate and engage with your users. Moreover, users will pay attention to your mistakes, so you might find yourself in trouble if you keep repeating them. After all, you even make mistakes that you aren’t aware of. Well, don’t worry because, in this article, we will discuss how you can avoid making common social media marketing mistakes repeatedly.
8 Common Social Media Marketing Mistakes You Need To Avoid
Table of Contents
1. Not Having A Social Media Plan
2. Not Knowing Who Your Target Audience Is
3. Posting Way Too Much Or Not Posting Enough
4. Not Engaging With Your Audience
6. Not Tracking Your Analytics
7. Trying To Be On Every Social Platform
8. Avoiding Working With Influencers
1. Not Having A Social Media Plan
Creating a social media plan might seem like a simple task, but it takes quite some effort to do so. You can’t run a business and post on social media without having a plan. Therefore, social media marketing should be taken just as seriously as you do with your marketing efforts. Set up a list of the objectives you want to achieve and the available budget. This will better clarify what you need to succeed, how you intend to achieve it, and what type of resources you need. Furthermore, you can outline the social media channels you want to post on and how frequently you should post on them.
2. Not Knowing Who Your Target Audience Is
Defining your target audience is something you should be well concerned about. Only some users on social media can find your content appealing, and whenever you concentrate on the people who do, everything will turn out to be better. No matter how hard you work, not knowing your audience won’t ever benefit you.
For example, the phone manufacturer “OnePlus” knows that its target audience is concerned about fast charging. So, every time they post on social media or launch a new phone, they’ll talk about how much quicker their phone will charge this year. If you are concerned about how to grow your Instagram, Facebook, or your other channels, you need to deliver the right content to your audience.
3. Posting Way Too Much Or Not Posting Enough
Things can get out of hand when you start focusing on quantity more than quality. You don’t want to be that person who will post 10-15 times a day on Facebook, Instagram, or any other social media platform.
In fact, according to a study by Hootsuite, it isn’t recommended to post more than two times a day on social media. So, especially if you are concerned about growing your Instagram, Facebook page, or any other social media channel, you need to consider this carefully.
How can you separate the frequency of posting on social platforms each day? The way to do so is by posting the same content on each of your social media channels. If you have more information to give out, post twice a day; limit it to once a day if your business isn’t informative. You can use Buffer to schedule your social media posts each day and the time they should go live.
On the other hand, we have the exact opposite of users. Another common mistake from firms is to post more on social media. You want to avoid rarely posting because not only will you create an unengaged fanbase, but your followers will think you don’t care much about social media either. Furthermore, you’ll go down in the social media rankings and not be as exposed to your audience as much as your competitors.
Try posting at least three times per week, and no less than that. Working days are Monday to Friday, so post every other day, in this case, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, or whichever way works best for you.
4. Not Engaging With Your Audience
A common mistake made by many firms is that they tend to post on social platforms but have yet to engage with their audience directly. For instance, if you have a large fan base, it can be challenging to reply to all messages and comments. But we aren’t asking you to do that at all. For example, if you have a few words on Instagram, you can try to reply to your followers if they have any questions or like their comments to show your appreciation.
Additionally, engagement doesn’t only mean replying to your followers but also asking questions when posting on social media, tagging someone, using the correct hashtags, and more. You never want to seem like you are ignoring your followers. After all, they are engaging with you, so you want to return the favour. Finally, your username choice could also affect your engagement. The good news is that you can check username ideas here and make them similar to your other social media handles.
5. Being Too Sales
Nobody is saying that you shouldn’t sell your products and services, but you don’t want to sound creepy or look like you only care about selling your product to your audience. According to statistics, there are more than two billion fake accounts only on Facebook, and fake accounts will usually have this tone of language.
Instead of doing that, ask yourself two important questions:
- First, what kind of value am I delivering with this post?
- What am I trying to prove?
These questions help you avoid looking like you are more of a salesperson than someone trying to deliver value. Instead, you are trying to improve your brand’s story without having to spend a dime on it.
6. Not Tracking Your Analytics
Your strategy should be monitored at all times, and something about social media is that you can’t establish a successful strategy without monitoring your performance. Insights on what you’ve done in the past and what you should be doing in the future will help you plan out what you have to do and avoid any mistakes. But, above all, you must find a good analytics tool for assessing your performance.
By tracking analytics, you’re better placed to create the right target marketing strategies that will improve the overall performance of your brand following. Above all, you can monitor conversions, trends, customer engagement and influence your fanbase on social media.
7. Trying To Be On Every Social Platform
You have to remember that not every social media platform is the same, and not all of them operate the same way. They may be promoting the same idea, but it may only be suitable for some businesses. For example, TikTok & YouTube are ideal for businesses who like to promote video marketing, while other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are more for content. On the other hand, LinkedIn is a B2B social platform suitable for business professionals.
As you see for yourself, not every social platform is the same, and at the end of the day, it’ll depend on what you are trying to promote. For example, is your business promoting video marketing? Go for TikTok, or are you more focused on content? Go for Instagram and Facebook.
Social media posting takes concentration and effort, so if you promote your content in an area where your target audience isn’t there, you’ll only be wasting your time.
8. Avoiding Working With Influencers
Now, we know you may think this isn’t a mistake, but many professionals underestimate the power of influencers. In fact, as of March 2022, the influencer marketing industry reached more than $16.4 billion!
There are influencers on every social platform who are continuously engaging with them. They know these social platforms better than anyone else and are separated into three different categories:
- Micro-influencers: Have excellent engagement rates but aren’t suitable if you have a larger fanbase than them
- Macro-influencers: Have a larger fanbase but many times may not have high-level engagement rates based on the number of followers they have
- Celebrities: Influencers who don’t accept to do business with just anyone and will often charge expensive rates if you choose to work together with them
So, depending on the category you are part of, choose who to work with based on the number of followers you have. Remember that celebrities won’t work with anyone, and if you have a couple of hundred followers, chances may not be that great for you. However, working with micro-influencers is always an excellent idea because of the high engagement levels they have.
Wrapping It Up
That’s all for this article. These are the top common social media marketing mistakes you should avoid making whenever posting on social media. Unfortunately, there are many social media platforms out there, and even though they all promote the same idea, they don’t promote the idea the same way.
As a business, you must know what you stand for and never ignore your community on social media. Keep engaging with users and make them feel valuable whenever they interact with your channel. After all, if it weren’t for them, you would never be around in the first place!