5 Biggest Social Media Marketing Mistakes You Should Avoid

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are quite popular among people. It is believed that an individual is using at least one social media channel at the moment. This is something that makes Social Media Marketing (SMM) an effective tool for businesses. Presently, just like other digital marketing strategies, SMM is employed by a huge number of businesses to touch the untapped base of the active users on these social media channels.

It sounds interesting but many businesses complain that they are not getting the desired outcomes or much success through social media. Well! It is not the fault of these platforms but the social media marketing mistakes made by the businesses. Today, in this post, we will be addressing numerous issues that may impact all your social media marketing and related efforts.

So, read properly to understand whether you are making any of these the following mistakes or not:

1. Posting content without having a clear strategy

Many businesses struggle with focus when they start with social media marketing for their brand. There are mainly two types of problems with posting content on social media platforms without using a clear strategy – first and foremost, your outcomes will always reflect the quality and relevance of the content you are publishing on the social media channels. Posting sub-par content to reach a quantity of target audience will often lead to poor results. We would suggest you ask the questions given here before posting anything:

• Is the content as per the interest of your target audience?
• Is the content of any value or use for your customers?
• Why should your target audience care?

Secondly, people typically have an inherent ability for detecting inaccuracy. So, if your content is not relevant or well-thought-out, then your business will be marked as a company that does not care about what it puts or serves in front of its audience. And this is not a good deal because it can destroy your image and trust that is needed the most if you want to succeed in your niche.

2. Being EXCESSIVELY promotional

You can make your people less interested or completely off by posting overly promotional content. See, people are using social media for what they want! So, the chances are very less that your customers will pay attention to what YOU WANT! You can only do this by building trust. If you constantly try to sell something to your audience, it will come off as selfish, NOT RELIABLE – even though they might need your services or products.

Rather, you should focus on building a bond of trust with your targeted customers. The finest way to do this is by being genuine and helpful. The former includes sharing important content that may or may not benefit you but can keep your customers engaged. The latter, on the other hand, involves being transparent about everything. You have to provide details without any expectations. All these will help you connect with your audience and build trust. But we are not saying that you should not promote on social media. Instead, limit the number of ‘promotional’ posts for every social media platform.

3. Acting like a ‘ROBOT’

Some businesses strictly follow their social media calendars. However, SMM should not be rigid. There should always be room for inspiration and creativity. For instance, you do not have to share a blog post from your official website every Monday because your social media calendar is saying so. You team should be able to share something that can make more sense.

Your SMM calendar must serve as a keep going smoothly rather than a ‘be-all’ and ‘end-all’. It should always help you on those days where inspiration and creativity are missing. Moreover, your SM calendar must be ever-changing based on your outcomes. Sticking to the same ideas even when they are not yielding proper results is nothing but a complete waste of resources. So, we would recommend you utilize the data i.e. customers’ feedback, views, likes, and the rate of engagement to plan accordingly. DO NOT BE A ROBOT.

4. Not investing your time and energy in your greatest assets

You might have seen companies on directories such as Yelp using their social media page as their official website. Such businesses do not have a website and chosen to utilize other platforms rather than investing in one. If you are also doing this, then IT IS A HUGE MISTAKE. The only problem with counting on such external platforms is that you will have ZERO control. Those websites may shut down or simply impose fees after a certain period, restricting your capabilities and more.

So, it is good to use social media marketing to boost your business website as a platform you control. By implementing the right tactics, you can grab the maximum eyeballs and magnetize them to visit your official website or other business assets like the email list.

5. Being too inconsistent 

Every business has to be consistent with its brand presence and efforts on social media. It means keeping your brand and related assets in-line with your style guide and stay away from breaking promises. For example, share new articles published on your website every day if you have promised the same. Similarly, you must use your brand colors in the imagery to be relevant. From the post frequency and content to font choice and tone of voice, you must maintain consistency in everything related to your brand. This is the easiest way if you want to be remembered and noticed.

Can these social media marketing mistakes be rectified?

See, mistakes are a part of life and business in general. There is a saying of Kelvin Wong, ‘the only people who do not make any mistakes are those who do not do anything’. But when you constantly work for the development of your business, you might make mistakes. However, you can only rectify the errors mentioned in this post.

Always remember to keep your content informative, interesting, and relevant, more focused on your audience, and less promotional. Do not follow your social media marketing calendar too strictly. Rather, invest some of your efforts on your website and reliability. Finally, the sole purpose of social media and SMM is to connect with the right people and promote engagement. Simply remember that! And good luck!