5 mistakes you may be making in social media marketing

Did you know that a majority of social media users will unfollow business pages that spam sales content every day? You’ve probably unfollowed a few of these yourself at some point. With millions of brands advertising every single day across social media channels, it isn’t easy to stand out – and it’s easy to turn people off. This article takes a close look at five common mistakes brands to make when first dipping their toes in the uncertain waters of social media marketing:

Five common mistakes

• Playing the game without a plan

Ask yourself one question: what is the purpose of your social media marketing efforts? Any project without a plan is destined to run into issues, and social media marketing is no different. A standard error made by marketers is to start posting whatever, whenever, without much direction. Decide if you’re posting for brand awareness, sales, or to keep in touch with your audience. Schedule your posting with careful consideration, and be sure to share the plan with everyone involved.

• Setting it and then forgetting it

It takes more than merely setting up a social media account – with all the brand information a customer could ever want – to start generating leads. Too many business owners just set up their social media pages and forget about them, which sort of defeats the point of a social networking website. The idea is to actively participate, sharing regular content that your audience can engage with. This is the best way to naturally grow your following while keeping open a potential lead pathway.

• Taking negative feedback personally

Regardless of how heavily social media sites censor content, there’s always a chance that you’re going to be triggered by a disgruntled customer. People take to social media to both praises and chastise brands or products, but what determines a business’ online fate is how they respond to these public attacks. Many brands can defuse harmful or volatile social situations with the use of humour, but a sincere ‘customer is always right’ approach is recommended.

• Using every touchpoint to sell stuff

Sales, sales, and more sales. Every brand is continuously having sales, and they never seem to end. Consumers see enough advertising in their everyday lives; they don’t want to be bombarded by it when they take a moment to relax while scrolling their feeds. Avoid using every post as a sales pitch, and this includes visiting your website or signing up for a newsletter. Just post things that you think your fans will find interesting, with the occasional ‘soft-sell’ post.

• Forgetting to keep content diverse

Gone are the days when posting photographs of your workplace or products online was enough to get people talking and taking notice. Brands need content that is eye-catching, engaging, and diverse. Instead of 10 graphic and text posts a month, mix things up with the occasional video and include other types of graphical media like infographics, 3D images and GIFs. Also, change up the times and days you post, and track post performance over time.

Social media is continually evolving, and what was common practice last year is outdated and – in some cases – taboo this year.

Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing

Forge a marketing career in social media, you can be proud of, with the first step being a Social Media Marketing course from DSM! If you’re still unsure where you see yourself as a marketing professional, contact us, and we’ll help you decide on a path that’s right for you.