This week we will bring your attention to the many mistakes that people make when managing their social media accounts. These mistakes are all fixable and can easily be avoided. 

 

Posting Identical Content on Multiple Platforms

 

As a business owner, the last thing you want to do is look lazy or uncreative. When you choose to post the same content, at the same time, on multiple different platforms your audience may begin to see you this way. Thankfully, there are numerous ways that you can reuse content without seeming lazy. 

 

For example, you can use the same content on different platforms if you refrain from posting them on the same day. You can even use the same content that you posted on Facebook as a story on Instagram to avoid repetitive content. Businesses should also add different captions that are more suitable for the platform they are posting on. You may want to use hashtags on Instagram, but you shouldn’t put hashtags on your Facebook posts. Another way you can reuse content is by animating or changing images on Canva. Canva is a wonderful resource for people who want to make their social media stand out. 

 

Not Having a Specific Target Audience

You might think that it would be helpful for your business to reach every possible audience, but in reality, it is just a waste of time and money to try and do so. Not every person can be a target audience for your business, so you need to recognize who your target audience could be. If you know your target audience you are more likely to choose platforms to best fit your needs. There is no reason for a business to be on every platform when they will most likely reach their audience on 2-3 platforms. How old is your audience? Where do they live? What gender is the majority of your audience? These are questions you should be asking yourself when choosing what platforms to promote your business on. 

 

You Have No Strategy

It is hard to get where you would like to go without a map. You would not drive around in your car with no idea how to get to your destination, so why would you post social media content that won’t get you where you would like to go? What is your objective or goal? Do you want to build your community outreach, sell products, or build brand awareness? These are questions to consider when building your social media strategy. You must have a plan to reach your goals. 

 

Bad Content

 

Bad content will make people unfollow you faster than anything else. Some examples of bad content include copyrighted graphics, misused hashtags, and other technical issues. Using copyrighted graphics is a huge mistake that can be easily avoided. There is no excuse for a business’s graphics to have watermarked posts when there are countless free online resources that are not copyrighted. Misused hashtags are common, but can put a negative image on your business. When choosing your hashtags you want to be careful that they have not already been claimed by a negative industry. Another common mistake people make with hashtags is that they are not relevant. You want to choose hashtags that are consistent with your business. Technical issues such as misused formatting, misspellings, and omitted captions can also be harmful to your business. You may think that people will not notice, but they are paying more attention than you know. 

 

Not Selling 

 

Not selling is an enormous mistake that is made far too often. We get it, you don’t want to overwhelm your audience or push them too hard. Overselling is also a common mistake that you should try to avoid. You should be careful to not assume people know what you do/sell. They may not know, and social media is the perfect place to inform them about your business. Make sure your content is generating sales without overwhelming your audience. 

 

Over-posting and Under-posting

 

Over-posting is a mistake that is seen far too often on social media. When you over-post, you overwhelm your audience and lose followers and engagement. If you are posting more than once a day, chances are that you are over-posting. It has been seen many times before. A company posts four times in one day. Their first post may get 100 views, but their fourth will get little to no views. Posting 3-5 times per week is the social media sweet spot. Do not wear your audience out with too much content. Under-posting is also an enormous mistake that too many businesses are guilty of. Under-posting can easily make a business come off as careless and lazy. You have to be consistent and find a median that works for you. 

 

Not Engaging 

Engaging with your social media audience is a must. You spend an extensive amount of time and energy making your social media perfect for your business. Why would you want to abandon all of your hard work by not engaging with your audience? When you put out content you must respond to comments, make calls, answer questions, and engage in any other way possible. Younger audiences especially respond well to companies that have high engagement on social media. If your target audience is young you must spend time connecting with them. Your audience will tell you what they want/need if you engage and communicate with them. 

 

Renting Instead of Owning 

Renting instead of owning is an extremely common mistake, but it is one of the worst mistakes that people can make. When you use social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, you are renting a space in the platform. You do not own the platform, and you have no control over what will happen to it. If all of your business is on one platform and that platform gets taken down, you no longer have customers. You do not own your followers, and you could lose access to them. It is important to get people’s contact information so that you can begin to own the lead. Have people sign up for an email subscription or enter their phone number for a prize. Having contact information from your audience helps you own people’s time instead of renting it from a social media platform. Facebook and Instagram are simply rental properties.  

Don’t Look Like a Rookie

 

These are all easy mistakes to make. That’s why we see them so often. If you’ve made one of these mistakes in the past, that’s ok. Move forward like a social media pro.