Almost everyone is doing Social Media marketing these days, whether its a big company or a local start-up.

It seems like everyone wants to jump in the bandwagon so that they can let their brand known across various Social networks.

The reason behind this is simple ‒ most people are on social media. But still, everybody makes mistakes, and social media marketers are no different.

Make too many mistakes, and soon those follower counts will drop, as well as your revenue.

That’s why it’s crucial to be aware of them. In this post, we’ll talk about the eleven social marketing mistakes, and what can you do to fix them.

1. Undefined social media marketing goals

Top 10 most common types of social media goals

Source: Hootsuite

When working on your online marketing strategy, ask yourself this question first: What are you trying to achieve?

A lot of businesses jump on board to new social networks without giving it a thought of what they exactly want.

To fix this, set SMART goals for your Social Media Marketing. For you to achieve your goals, it has to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound.

2. No social media marketing strategy

One of the first things that you need to have is a social media marketing strategy. Ideally, it should focus on building your online presence and not to let it dwindle.

What do you want to achieve on social media? Do you want to gain more followers and likes? Build a new source of leads? Cement the authority of your brand?

For your social media strategy to be successful, you would need:

• Goals
• Target Audience
• Strategies
• Time Investment
• Team

Social media can be a significant time suck, with the possibility of giving you and your team absolutely nothing in return. That’s why it’s essential to come up with a social media strategy and stick to it.

Create measurable and predefined goals beforehand so that you can set out a plan on how you can attain it.

Moreover, take the necessary steps and set a time limit. That way, you’re not wasting your time and effort on fruitless endeavors.

3. Setting up several social media accounts

Managing just one social media account is already a huge responsibility. Even big organizations have problems with staffing, let alone running a single account.

Some businesses make the mistake of jumping into every social network that they come across. But most of the time, they’ll be only stretched too thin after setting up pages virtually everywhere ‒ and only getting a handful of fans.

The result? They’re forced to abandon those networks in the long run.

The lesson here, (especially for start-ups) is that most of the time, you don’t have enough resources to run more than one or two social network accounts.

4. Not targeting the right audience

Have a deeper understanding of your target audience. Where do they usually hang out online? What kind of content is most relevant to them?

What type of information are they generally looking for? How do they make use of that information?

Once you already know the kind of users you want to target, it’s easier to build relationships with them. You’re also able to create content that’s relevant to them.

5. Treating each social network the same

Not all social media platforms are created equal. Different social media channels attract different kinds of audiences.

So, there’s no point in spending a lot on a particular social media channel if your target users aren’t there. Don’t try to be everywhere all at once, especially if you’re only starting.

Every social network that you’ll be active on will require additional time and effort on your end.

Remember that you need to engage and tailor curated content for every social channel you’re on.

So, if you’re new on social media, an excellent platform to start is Facebook. It remains the largest social network so far, with approximately 2.38 billion monthly active users.

If you’ve been on social media for quite some time, then it’s time to consider which channels are performing better and those that are not. You can utilize surveys, polls, and public reports to effectively match your audience demographic with the social networks that your audience use.

6. No communication with your consumers

A lot of brands don’t engage with the users’ comments on their feed. But that leaves a terrible impression that they’re not interested in creating conversions (and fostering relationships) with their community.

So, when someone replies on your post, see to it that someone from your team responds to it, as well. The more you like or comment back, the more likely will users engage on your page.

Remember that every comment is a perfect opportunity to boost your engagement, inviting more users to join in the conversation.

When you’re actively engaging with your audience, then you can improve your follower growth and engagement rates.

7. Not showing your human side

The very core of social media is all about being social. Having a faceless company or organization will be out of place on social media.

So when posting something on your social media profile, make sure to include your human side. When you’re responding to comments, don’t respond with a robotic corporate response.

Instead, address the user personally. It is not something that you would usually take out on your HR department.

Should an adverse event happen, it’s crucial to keep your emotions in check. Most of the time, you can resolve these situations reasonably. Let your customers know that you understand how they feel, and you’re looking for ways to fix the situation.

Instead of blaming others, focus on the things that you can control, and deal with the situation as calmly as you could.

8. Producing low-quality content

If you want users to be excited with your content, then it has to be worth sharing. Creating a dull or irrelevant content will just be ignored.

It’s essential that you tailor your content specifically for each social media platform. Chances are, users will always have different expectations on the kind of material that they want to see on every social media channel.

So focus on adding value to your customers, and not just adding to the noise.

Before posting, ask yourself the following questions: Why would you want users to click on particular information? Would it pass the reshare test? Why would you want to share this content with your followers?

9. Inconsistent posting of content

Your social media marketing is an ongoing commitment. You can’t just post sporadically, whenever you feel like it.

It’s crucial that you stay consistent in front of the eyes of your audience as you keep growing.

Now, think about Twitter. Most likely, your content will live on for about 20 minutes. On Facebook and Instagram, it’s going to be a few hours.

Consistent posting doesn’t mean that you’re choosing quantity over quality. After all, posting too much may cause a drop in your reach.

A great strategy is focusing on publishing high-quality and relevant content on your feed that people would want to share.

So, why not set aside at least a day each month to map out your content calendar? What topics do you want to write or create a post about?

You can use a simple excel sheet where you can put everything like upcoming events, holidays and so on. You can also make a separate sheet for your postings on social media.

10. Not tracking your results

How do you know that the time, energy, and money that you invest are paying off? You can’t say unless you create a system that allows you to track and measure your results.

It’s essential to utilize the built-in tools on various social media channels like Facebook Insights, Twitter Analytics, and other third-party tools out there. You can also use Google Analytics to measure your conversions and social traffic.

11. Tracking the wrong KPIs

Many marketers are led to believe that tracking and measuring key performance indicators (KPIs) are just vanity metrics. Others are content with the fact that they can see significant growth on their Facebook fans or followers on Instagram.

But social media marketing is the same as any other marketing channel. So, your focus shouldn’t just be on growing your fans and followers. You need to measure how well your social media efforts did on your business.

Over to You

Almost everyone uses social media these days. Using it can be fun and profitable for your business. The goal here isn’t to scare you of all the “don’ts.” Instead, it’s showing you how you can do a profitable business by effectively using social media.

As long as you try to put yourself in your customers’ shoes, and share what they truly care about, then you’ll thrive. Also, apply the tips that we’ve discussed in this post, and you’ll be set up for success in the long run.

About the Author – Kevin Urrutia is the founder of Voy Media, a Facebook Marketing Company. He aids businesses in effectively improving sales and conversion through the effective utilization of Facebook advertising. Voy Media is an expert in determining the best approach, coming up with a unique solution for each client.

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