How to Avoid the Most Common Social Media Mistakes

From cave drawings to smoke signals, and from snail mail to email, the evolution of human communication is constant. The key to successful communication is to go to where the people are, and the people are on social media. Social media marketing isn’t as simple as some people think. The influence of social media can be huge. This is why it’s important for companies to utilize social media and the best way to do so is to put a strategy in place.  Your corporate social media activity must be different than your personal one. Much like any marketing initiative, there is usually a right way and wrong way to go about it.

Common Social Media Mistakes, a List

The first step is accepting that social media is a new reality, and the second is to make sure that if you are going to do it, you’re doing it right. That’s where we come in. In the world of social media, even a small mistake can be a fatal one. This is why we have compiled a list of some of the most common, obvious, sneaky and amateurish mistakes that you can make on social media and, best of all, how to avoid them.

You’re trying to be too social

Social media can be an exciting place, especially with new platforms appearing on the scene almost weekly. However, while we applaud your enthusiasm at signing up to all the biggest and latest platforms, the reality is that it takes a lot of work to maintain them all. If you’re unable to maintain them, you risk sending the wrong impression to potential customers by your infrequent posts and untimely responses. Rather, focus on the ones that are most relevant to your customers. It is much more beneficial to have a great social media presence on two platforms than a subpar presence across five.

You post, but don’t engage

Yes, posting regularly is critical in establishing a strong social media presence. However, there’s more to it. A big mistake that many businesses make is treating social media like an auditorium, one where they talk to a silent, but packed audience. It’s better to think of social media as two friends grabbing a coffee. This means actually talking to and carrying out a conversation with your followers. Your followers want to know that their voices are being heard. Social media can be a valuable tool to gain insight and information on those people who can either make or break your business.

You’re focused on quantity, not quality

Social media is a numbers game. However, there’s more to it than just having a wide reach. Businesses should be focusing their efforts on their core customer base. Remember, anybody can pay for likes but those likes must have the potential for an actionable impact on your bottom line in order for your money to be well spent.

You’ve taken a “one-size-fits-all” approach

The term ‘social media’ is actually an umbrella term and under it are dozens of platforms. Each platform is unique and has a different audience. You should change your social media marketing strategy on each platform in order to effectively reach and communicate with your target market. Do your research. Figure out which social media platforms your target market is using. Make sure that your efforts are tailored to each specific platform in mind. A brand who doesn’t understand the fundamentals of the social media platform they’re using will not be able to execute effective social media marketing. In turn, this can turn off potential customers very quickly.

You skipped on the social media policy

Social media marketing is an important part of your business. To make sure that you’re executing social media marketing best practices, create a social media policy. A social media policy is an easy way to ensure everyone is on the same page when it comes to social media efforts and clearly lays out expectations. A social media policy should:

• • Cover what is said on social media by employees about the brand,
• • Instruct employees not to post confidential information about the company and brand
• • Instruct employees not to post gripes about customers or other employees,
• • Instruct employees on how to handle negative comments about the company and brand, and
• • Detail the expected morals of employees.

These are only a few common mistakes that we see businesses make in their social media marketing. However, with a little effort, foresight and maybe some help, your social media efforts can do exactly what they’re supposed to do – grow your business and engage your followers.