Social Media Marketing can be frustrating. You post, and you post, and you don’t see results you were expecting. Don’t worry if that happens a lot. We are here to share with you a few most common mistakes people make on social media so you can learn from them.

Not having a realistic goal

I’d say there are probably 2 types of business owners: Ones that set up social media accounts and hope for the best and those who have a clear vision of what they want to achieve. We all want to make sales. However when it comes to social media, first we need to think about brand awareness. If people don’t know about you, they won’t trust you. And if they don’t trust you, they won’t buy from you. Your goal needs to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant and Time-bound), therefore think about goals that are realistic and achievable. Hoping for “more sales” just won’t work.

Failing to narrow your target audience

A lot of people make a similar mistake: They try to attract everyone. However, the key is to identify who exactly is your target audience. It’s about imaging your typical, ideal client. Who exactly would that be? What are the pattern behaviours they have in common? What are their problems? Why should they choose your product? Once you have an idea of who that is, make sure you analyse the data and test whether you are actually right. There is nothing worse than targeting the wrong audience. This is crucial when it comes to creating a marketing strategy because once you know who do you exactly want to attract, you will know how to find them and grab their attention.

Not setting your profile up properly

Once you choose your social media channels, make sure you fill up all the information regarding your business. You need to make it as easy as possible for people to understand what you do and where you are. Remember to include the description of your business,  the link to your website, your contact details, the address, opening hours etc. Also, make sure your profile pictures and cover photos are consistent across all the platforms. It’s essential that people can identify your brand easily.

Posting too much or not enough

You don’t want to be spamming people, but at the same time, if you don’t post frequently, people will likely forget about your brand. What’s the sweet spot? Well, it all depends on your business and your industry. Post regularly and observe how your audience is responding to your content. You may discover that particular social media platforms perform better than the other ones, and it should give you a clue. However, if you notice your engagement is decreasing, it might be because you’re posting too often.

Posting boring, promotional content

Social Media isn’t an advertising tool. Yes, you should mention what your company does and how it can help your audience however you should not bombard people with commercials. People don’t like adverts, especially if there are too many of them. Instead, focus on posting content that is interesting to your potential clients, something they can engage with.

Posting low-quality content

There are many bad social media accounts. Don’t be one of them! Put yourself in the shoes of your customer. Would they engage with this low res image of your menu? Probably not. You don’t have to be a graphic designer to create content for social media. You can create fantastic graphics using free programmes like Canva or Desygner. Also, make sure that your posts contain images or videos. Visual content receives 39% more interaction than any other post.

 

Linking all your social media accounts

I know its very tempting to connect all your social media. Creating different content for each platform is definitely time-consuming. However linking it all together is like assuming every single one of them has the same audience and speaks the same language. You wouldn’t post a link to your website on Instagram, like you wouldn’t post hashtags on Facebook. Every social media has different demographics and characteristics; therefore, your content should also be different. Don’t forget that it is pretty obvious that you have linked your social media, which can be perceived as lazy and it looks like this:

Not great.

Don’t worry if you found that you are guilty of some of those mistakes. The question is, what are you going to do about it now.