4 common social media marketing mistakes

Though social media is constantly evolving, some things stay remarkably steady over time. Unfortunately, one of those things is the mistakes people tend to make when using social platforms to promote their business! Here, we’ve collected for you some of the most common social media marketing mistakes we see, so you can avoid them as you plan your social strategy.

Some social media marketing mistakes to avoid are:

1. Not doing it at all 

No social media marketing mistake is as serious as dismissing it entirely! Perhaps you think that it would be a waste of time for your brand. Maybe you think that your audience isn’t on social media. But in today’s market, having at least some degree of social presence is a necessity for pretty much every business. (Over 65 million businesses are on Facebook!) We live much of our lives online, and much of that time is spent on social media – so your advertising dollars should be put to work on social media, too.

Common stereotypes name young people and Millennials as the biggest social media demographic. But it’s a little more nuanced than that. Here are some social media facts that may surprise you: 

• The fastest-growing demographic on Facebook is actually people aged 45-54! 
• Facebook is the third-most visited site in the world.  
• Nearly 70% of all Americans have at least one social media profile, and that number is growing.  

We could spout facts and figures all day, but the point is: whoever is in your audience, many of them can be found platforms like Facebook or LinkedIn. And if you ignore social media entirely, you’ll be guaranteed to miss out. 

2. Posting without a plan 

So you’ve made a social post. Great! But…what comes next? Posting is great – posting regularly is better. And to make that easier on yourself (and your social team, if you have one), you need a plan. If social media marketing is like trying to hit a bullseye over and over, posting without a plan is like throwing darts blindfolded from across the room. Sure, you might get lucky every once in awhile, but how do you plan to replicate your success? 

If you’re unsure where to start, spend some time researching your competitors’ social media presence. You won’t want to copy them directly, of course. But monitoring their profiles could give you an idea of what resonates with your audience and give you a jumping-off point to start developing your own content. 

Obviously, it would be great if you could post original content every single day, but that’s not possible for most people. So once you’ve identified the type of content you’d like to share, set a realistic goal for yourself. Maybe you only have time to post once a week – that’s okay. Platforms such as Hootsuite can help you manage posts and set a schedule. Planning ahead will help you keep posting even when you get busy. As long as you have a plan to guide you and you stick with it, your audience will get to know what to expect – and keeping up with a steady rhythm will help them build trust and confidence in you. 

3. Becoming inactive 

We know how difficult it can be to keep up a robust social media posting schedule. But unfortunately, because of how the algorithms work, becoming inactive can be a crushing blow to your social strategy. Inactive accounts lose followers, and perhaps more importantly, can begin to lose the trust of the followers they do have. Social media is so important that, for better or worse, when people see an account that hasn’t been updated in months, they may assume that the company is either slacking or no longer in business. 

Taking the time to make social posts shows your potential customers that you are actively involved with your business. This builds trust. If you’re taking the time to post, that shows that your business is alive and well. 

4. Too much self promotion 

Don’t underestimate the “social” part of social media – people are there primarily to interact and talk, not to be bombarded with a thousand sales pitches! It goes without saying that people will expect a certain amount of self-promotion on your business page, but make too hard of a sell too often, and you risk turning them off immediately. (Imagine inviting a friend over for dinner to catch up and instead being subjected to an endless sales pitch…something tells me that friendship wouldn’t make it to dessert.) 

Rather than pushing your products or services in every single post, instead consider what content your target audience would find useful, entertaining, and relevant. It’s likely that there will be room for a soft pitch in that type of content, but make sure it doesn’t take center stage all the time. 

Though keeping up with social media may seem daunting at first, we promise it’s well worth it! Avoiding these four common social media marketing mistakes will help you keep up a vibrant social presence. Though it will take an investment of time and money, it will help you not only build your audience, but also build trust – and that’s priceless.