8 Social Media Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

For newcomers to the digital marketing industry, making a good first impression on social media is extra critical as they only get one chance to make it right. Losing that chance means lagging behind competitors and repairing reputation which in of itself a not so easy chore.

Don’t fall to the social media trap! Be informed, know these top 8 common mistakes.

Mistake #1: Having no social media strategy whatsoever – Companies without a social media strategy can never deliver an effective message to their audience. To execute a successful social medial marketing plan, a strategy must be in place.

Mistake #2: Creating accounts on too many platforms too soon – Many businesses create accounts on a number of social media channels at once despite their inability to post quality content to engage their followers and prospects.

Mistake #3: Paying for FAKE followers – While thousands, even millions, of followers, likes, and fans would help leverage a business’ prominence and validate its social proof, it won’t help with increased ROI nor will it improve user engagement if it’s spam or fake.

Mistake #4: Talking too much about the brand and the brand alone – Sharing the work of others is totally fine, especially if you know it will be useful to your followers. Reshare or re-tweet someone’s post.

Mistake #5: Using irrelevant and excessive hashtags – To combat this, limit your hashtag usage to a considerable and sensible number, and make sure they are relevant to what you are trying to convey on your post.

Mistake #6: Sharing too many in a short amount of time – As much as possible, strive to share posts consistently and regularly. Create a posting schedule and make use of online scheduling tools like Hootsuite and Buffer to space out your posts and avoid overwhelming and spamming your followers.

Mistake #7: Forgetting to Proofread – The world of social media is brimming of word crimes. And while it may seem to be petty mistakes, sloppy grammar and spelling can hurt your online presence and credibility baldly.

Mistake #8: Neglecting the “social” aspect of social media – Social media is unique in a way that it allows brands to interact with their consumers in a personal manner. Folks on social media expect responsiveness from companies, and want to feel they are dealing with real people and not corporate robots.