We have all made mistakes and learned new lessons this year. We are here this week to help you avoid making the same mistakes we have made. There is always time to learn something new in the world of digital marketing and business. 

 

All Social Media Platforms Are Not Created Equally

The first mistake you should avoid is thinking that all social media platforms are created equal. You must find out what platform serves you best and focus on it.

Social media is constantly changing. It evolves minute by minute. What was true for Twitter this week, was not true two months ago. You have to stay on top of it and make sure it’s continuously working for you. 

Many new platforms have emerged in the last year, including Clubhouse and BeReal. They share some of the same functionality, but you can’t just assume they are all the same. Each one has unique characteristics that distinguish it from others. As a business owner, you need to find out if it could work for you and your business.

If you’re trying to market skateboards and you’re only on Facebook, that’s problematic because you won’t find your audience. The same goes for TikTok. If you want to build an awesome TikTok community and you’re only posting videos with still images and text, that won’t work. Who you are marketing to and your target audience helps you pick your best platform.

There is a secret that most people, other than social media managers, don’t talk about; you have to like the platform. If you hate the platform, you won’t post on it whether it’s good for you or not. Enjoy the time you spend on social media or it will not work for you. Many small business owners make a platform work because they are passionate about that platform and they make engaging content. If your best platform happens to be the one you don’t like, you may want to hire it out, learn to love it or find something else that will be easier for you to deal with. 

 

The Goldilocks Effect

Mistake number two is the Goldilocks effect. You cannot over-post or under post. You have to find a happy medium. If you post once daily, with something to educate, inform or entertain, that’s ideal. Social media fatigue is real and it happens when users experience overload with online activity. As a result, they may start to unfollow pages, including yours, if you are over-posting. You need to post enough content to keep your customers interested but not overwhelmed.

A good rule of thumb is three to five times per week. However, if all you can post is two or three times per week, make sure they are amazing posts. You don’t want to burn out and quit posting for a month or two. You won’t be able to easily come back and revive it.

If you are an over-poster (someone who likes to post several times per day) try this experiment on your business page. Post at nine, post at noon, post at three, and post at seven. You will see your stats drop by half every single time you post. Hubspot did statistical research and found that for every post after the first post you will lose more engagement.

There are a few exceptions to this rule. Pinterest, Twitter, and sometimes TikTok allow you to post more often. Avoid overwhelming the customer with information. It needs to be the right stuff, on the right platform, and at the right time.

 

Lacking or Ignoring Engagement

Lacking or ignoring engagement is a common mistake that you should avoid. At least 42% of consumers expect to hear back within the hour. They expect an almost instant response. About ¼ of companies deliver on that expectation. Over ½ of businesses answer within 24 hours or don’t respond at all. Refusing to engage with your customers comes across as rude, and it’s very damaging to your business.

No one wants to feel ignored. According to statistics, the slower you are to reply to a younger audience, the less likely they are to connect with you. They expect to be interacted with quickly and will be more likely to buy your product if you interact with them online. 

Older users are a little more understanding and may give you 24 hours, but not much more than that. One of the best things you can do for your brand is to set up notifications on your phone so you don’t miss any important communication. Make sure you are engaging with your end user.

 

Not Using Analytics

If you’re not using analytics, you are wasting your time. How will you know what works if you do not look at your analytics? Without looking at the measurable facts, you won’t have any insight into how your campaign met its objectives. 

If you spent a lot of money producing a video series and those videos didn’t get any views, why would you repeat it? Statistics will give you that information. If the statistics tell you what you did was a success, keep doing that! It’s all in the stats.

 

Ask Your Friends to Follow And Engage

Getting your friends to follow your account can be extremely helpful, but they also need to engage. If your followers don’t engage in any way, it can hurt you. Facebook measures engagement. If your post doesn’t get any engagement, or your followers turn off notifications for your site, Facebook thinks the post got a negative reaction and restricts your reach.

If you ask your friends to like your page, ask them to engage as well. It would be best if they like, comment, and talk to you there. Engagement is also a great way you can support your friends online for free. If there is a business you want to help, engage with them online. It helps them tremendously.

 

Lack of Planning

Our final mistake, number six, is lack of planning. Don’t just cross your fingers and hope what you do works as a marketing plan. That approach is a huge waste of time, money, and energy for you and your business. 

You have to have a clear, defined objective. Be able to measure your goals to find out if you have succeeded. 100 followers who engage and give you business is a success. Gaining 10,000 followers who don’t engage or make purchases is a failure.

You as a business owner have to decide what you want to happen. Are you trying to capture emails, are you trying to drive sales, or are you trying to raise brand awareness? Once you determine that, then decide the best way to do that and how you will measure it. As you can see, a lack of planning is a huge mistake that you should avoid at all costs. 

 

Learn From Your Mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes, so why not learn from them? We have made a few mistakes this year that we have learned from. We have also seen other businesses make mistakes that we learned from. 2023 is the perfect opportunity for you to begin fixing your mistakes from this year!