In the digital world we now live in, social media is a vital aspect of good digital marketing, making it a heavy part of most businesses’ marketing plans. In such a quick-paced, e-commerce world, it is not something you can decide to skip out on because you may not see the results you want. As of right now, social media is one of the best ways to reach consumers since about 82% of the U.S. population uses some sort of social media.
Social media may seem like an easy strategy to use for digital marketing, but in reality, you need to be very intentional about it. There is a lot to consider, such as which platforms to use for your brand, what kind of content to post, how often, etc. For example, your brand may be better off using Instagram than TikTok or vice versa, as different platforms have different demographics using them.
Social media can be a complicated marketing strategy at first, but once you understand your options and get the logistics down, it will become a lot easier to manage your accounts and keep your audience engaged for a longer amount of time, as well as grab the attention of a lot of potential customers.
This blog will go through some of the most common mistakes that small businesses make on social media over and over again.
Posting inconsistently
It’s important to realize in the beginning that posting sporadically will not get you the attention you may want for your brand on social media. Posting inconsistently can mean posting once a month or 3 days in a row for one week and then disappearing. Either way, consistent posting means publishing content everyday or every other day – and sticking to that schedule for an extended period of time. To make this easier, it can help to utilize social media scheduling apps or services so that you don’t have to worry about it as much. Instagram has plenty of scheduling apps you can check out. Another thing to know is that social media algorithms will reward accounts that post regularly and place them in people’s discovery pages, and users will be more inclined to check your page out if they see you pop up constantly.
On the other hand, you also want to make sure you are not bombarding your followers with 10 posts a day. Instead, spread out your posts and schedule them in moderation. Moderation varies across different platforms though. For example, on Twitter, around 15 posts a day is a good rule, while on other platforms like Instagram and Facebook 1-5 times per day is an appropriate amount. To make sure this doesn’t happen, don’t be 100% reliant on automation from scheduling apps for every single thing you post. They still make a great tool as mentioned earlier, but those apps can overwhelm or annoy your followers by updating the page too often, so make sure you still have some control over what is posted.
Using the wrong or too many platforms
As mentioned before, different platforms have their benefits- a lot of those benefits being tied down to demographics and geographies. This means that if your brand is focusing on a very specific targeted audience, then focusing on a few social media platforms that your audiences use the most is the way to go rather than overwhelming yourself by using every single platform in existence or using the wrong ones. For example, Facebook may seem like a universal platform, but it is extremely restricted in countries like China and Russia. TikTok is a great platform if your brand caters to younger demographics, but it may not be the best option for catering to earlier generations.
Not responding to your audience on the platforms
There’s a reason why it’s called social media. You should be social. This means interacting with your consumers online, whether it’s through direct messages, comments, or another form of interaction. It’s common courtesy to at least type a response to a customer’s question or comment that they went out of their way to post. If your followers don’t feel that you are taking them into consideration by responding to their feedback, questions, or concerns, chances are they will not be bothered to do any business with you in the future. Also take ratings and reviews into consideration. This is obvious considering these are your actual customers telling you what they think. Engaging with your audience will increase your post engagement in the long term, which is what you want. So be sure to respond to every comment within 24 hours, or at least make it a goal to do so.
Even something as simple as “Hey ___, thanks for your question/comment. I will check that out asap” goes a long way.
Posting unengaging content
It’s one thing to post regularly, but it’s another thing to make sure your content is interesting. Rather than just constantly posting about your brand’s products or services or reposting content over again after a certain amount of time, make sure your content is actually engaging. There’s no need to be super creative, just make your content more engaging by asking a question or utilizing polls on Instagram stories. If you post content that advertises your products or services and nothing more, it’s more likely that your followers will just breeze past the post. Don’t forget that social media algorithms favor engaging content. Be sure to also utilize captions and hashtags as it will increase your rates of engagement. Use a mixture of popular and less used hashtags.
Your branding is inconsistent
This may be obvious, but consistency across platforms is important. This means using the same logo, the similar types of graphics, and similar discourse on all of your brand’s accounts. Basically, make sure your brand is recognizable on all platforms. While some aspects may inevitably vary on different platforms due to their varying features and other specifics, your overall branding should be clear and similar.
Your strategy is too similar
While your branding should be consistent across all platforms, it’s okay for the actual uploaded content to differ. What turns people off is going to a brand’s Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook and seeing the same exact post on each platform. To avoid an uninteresting and bland strategy, make your content vary across your brand’s platforms. It may require more work, but that way, your audience will be inclined to follow you everywhere. For example, use Instagram and Twitter to announce new products, promotions, and sales and then use TikTok to post videos of your product in use (like maybe from user-generated content) or behind-the-scenes videos of your products in development. If you’re promoting a service, maybe post a day-in-the-life of one what someone in that particular service industry.
Conclusion
In today’s day and age, it is a mistake for brands to shy away from social media for brand awareness. Your brand’s social media presence may not be perfect at first, but once you get the hang of using social media for digital marketing and know what works and what doesn’t work, especially for your brand, it will prove to be an extremely useful tool for growing your business.
