I don’t like to dwell on mistakes. But having an awareness of our mistakes is one of the best ways to improve our future behavior. In the rapid-fire industry of social media marketing, mistakes are some of the greatest tools for improvement that you have. While there’s nothing like learning from your own mistakes, it is really nice when you don’t have to go down the DIY route. That’s where this infographic might help.
5 Social Media Marketing Mistakes
The full infographic (below) covers nine social media marketing mistakes. Below are five of the biggest mistakes I’ve noticed in brands.
- Focusing on quantity of followers over quality. Not all followers are equal. Which would you rather have: 10 Facebook fans that don’t engage with any of your posts, or one fan that likes or shares one post per week? I’d rather have the one quality fan. Focus on engaging these fans – not empty numbers.
- Adding to the noise. We all feel that pressure to crank out content. But do four uninspired Facebook posts a week really do your brand any good? No. Create content that will make an impact and engage your followers. If you don’t have the time or creativity, consider outsourcing your social media or using an editorial calendar to organize and execute concepts in advance.
- Spreading yourself too thin. You don’t have to be on Twitter. You don’t have to be on Facebook. What you have to do is not over-commit yourself. Only create an online presence in the places where you can truly be present. Otherwise, you’ll come off looking like you don’t have much of a social media marketing plan at all.
- Lacking a personality. Every company has a personality; but a lot of them are afraid to show it. Should you let your brand fly its true colors on social media? Well, it depends. The answer is different for each company. Read more about this issue – what I call “transparency” – here.
- Not converting your followers. Followers are great. But, remember, the whole reason social media marketing “works” is because it eventually leads to sales. A lot of companies, especially younger ones, lose track of this goal. “Fans” and advocates give you feel-good vibes; but if they aren’t producing sales, you need to change things up. Selling on social media is a fine art. You have to learn to balance content that people simply “like” with content that asks them to take a step into your sales funnel. This is perhaps one of the bigger challenges many of our clients have faced before coming to BuzzPlant.
What’s one social media marketing mistake you learned from?
Feel like sharing? I’d love to know what social media marketing mistakes have tripped you up. If not, check out the infographic for some more tips and statistics.
