Making a Name for Yourself

3 Social Media Marketing Mistakes To Avoid

9 October 2019 by Catherine Barnes

When you consider your digital marketing options, it is hard to deny the influence of social media marketing. Where businesses stumble in their marketing efforts is making mistakes in the beginning. Avoiding common traps can make your marketing efforts fruitful.

Not Starting Soon Enough

Having social media accounts should be one of your first tasks, shortly behind launching your website. When you delay your social media presence, you are missing out on visibility. Much like developing a website, the results are not instant. It will take time for your social media accounts to gain traction and for you to have enough content for posts to appear in searches. Register for an account on a few of your favorite platforms and start posting immediately. Start with showcasing products or posing relevant questions. Aim to make at least a post each day until you see more engagement, then you may post more often or determine which direction to go with the posts you create.

Being Redundant

From a marketing perspective, you know your audience will differ across social media platforms, so you may post the same content on each one. Unfortunately, your audience may not understand marketing and they only know they are annoyed if they open Facebook to see the same post they just read on Instagram. There will be some percentage of your audience who will follow you across social media platforms, but it is difficult to appease everyone. You may have a different vibe on each account to minimize redundancy. For example, information on a sale or new product is okay to post on each platform, but one platform might be conversational, whereas the others lean more toward informative or instructional. When there is enough variability between platforms, it encourages people to follow you on multiple platforms without frustrating them.

Lack Of Professionalism

Sometimes the informal environment of social media can lead to being unprofessional, especially in the way you interact with your audience. Inevitably, your accounts will turn into a vehicle for customer service, whether people post directly on Facebook or private message you through any of these platforms. Lack of acknowledgment can be just as bad as saying the wrong thing. When people look at your account and see concerns from your audience that have gone unanswered for days or weeks, it reflects poorly on your business, and customers may wonder if you are still in business. If you are addressing a problem or criticism, it is better to divert the person to a private form a communication by asking them to email customer service or send you a private message. This shows the public you are acknowledging the problem but avoids turning business matters into a public spectacle.

Social media is one of the most influential marketing tools you have, but some businesses either fail to use these platforms or make mistakes in their efforts. Avoiding common pitfalls will minimize the issues you face on your marketing journey. 

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