Most Common Mistakes to Avoid in Social Media Marketing

The importance of social media marketing mentioned in our previous blog (Importance Of Social Media Management) clearly showcases the benefits social media marketing has to offer for business development. Social media is an evolving world with no limits set for creativity where keeping up with the trends becomes mandatory. But it does not end here; making a brand’s social media presence just for the sake won’t fetch any recognition online. While being in the race of digital trend, most of the brands end up making common mistakes on social media which leads to the negative growth. Social media can make or break a brand and considering this one needs to be very careful and conscious with their activities online especially if it is on behalf of your company! Let us now quickly have a look at the common mistakes to avoid in social media marketing.

1. Not Focusing on Social Media Marketing Strategy:

The first and foremost basic mistake that every social media marketer makes is of not having a core strategy for social media marketing. Just like how business development is backed up with a core marketing strategy, social media also requires a marketing strategy where one needs to define their business goals, draft a plan to achieve those goals, and set the target audience. Without a social media marketing strategy any activity performed online will not fetch you the desired results.

2. Not Knowing Your Target Audience:

The second important mistake ignored is of not defining or not knowing who your target audience is. It is selling your product/service in the market with knowing who will your customer. Not defining your target audience on social media will lead you nowhere! Remember, “Customer is the King” this similar mantra of traditional marketing applies to social media marketing as well.

3. Not Responding to Negative Feedback:

Unlike the traditional business wherein one can physically interact with customers, the only way to respond your customer on social media is by listening to their opinions, feedbacks/reviews online. By this it clearly does not mean that you should only praise, highlight the positive reviews and neglect or delete the negative feedback. In fact, responding to the negative feedbacks with a positive approach will build a good impression of your brand on social media. Always remember that negative feedbacks are the most honest ones and when such feedbacks are considered on a serious note, they can actually help in improving the flaws in your product/service and deliver a better user experience in future.

4. Spamming & Self Promotion:

Bombarding your audience with promotional messages & posts on daily basis can make them lose interest in your brand. Social media marketing is not only about promoting your brand online but also how you interact & engage with your audience plays an important role. Always opt for creative interactive content which will in return increase the audience engagement on your page. Note: Do not spam the content by attaching back links to your other social media accounts, website, or any sales/promotional activities.

5. Less Interaction With Your Audience:

Just how you need your audience’s attention on each activity, even they expect the similar interaction from your end. The term “social” is all about engaging with people; hence, never skip any conservation with your audience. Maintain a healthy relationship with your audience by solving their queries, listening to their honest feedbacks, replying to their comments and make them feel like it’s their own brand! Remember; do not sell your product/service online just for sake. Not interacting with your audience on regular basis can drop your followers count on social media within no time.

6. Fake Followers:

One of the biggest mistakes made by brands these days is buying the followers online! Never do that, we repeat never ever buy fake followers on social media just to show huge followers figures on your profile. Paid followers are not the actual audience your brand might be looking for. Always go for an organic approach for increasing the followers it will definitely fetch you the genuine followers for your brand; this might be a slow & steady process but will surely help you build a real network of followers.

7. No Creative Content:

Maintaining the frequency of posting content on social media is a to-do part for social media marketing. But what if the content is not engaging enough? Posting similar kind of content on your social media profile will gradually make your followers lose interest in your brand. Instead, be creative with your content and look for the ways to keep your audience engaged. Experiment with different types of content like blogs, vlogs, graphics, photos, and videos that will pull your audience’s attention towards your brand.

8. More Than One Profile on Same Social Media Site:

It seems like creating multiple profiles on same social media site like Facebook & Twitter with attached link to company’s website have become a trend. Do not be under the assumption that creating multiple profiles on same social media site will help them in growing business online by organic means; this will rather end up confusing your followers and would be a total waste of time & resources for your company.

9. Using Inappropriate Language & Promoting Sex, Drugs, and Violence:

Not elaborating much on this point but avoid using inappropriate & abusive language, stay away from nudity, do not feature drugs/alcohol and violence. This might end up hurting the sentiments of your followers or can even offend them, be careful with your every word you speak and action that you take on social media, your followers are watching you!

10. Not Analyzing Your Performance:  

Apart from being an online platform to advertise, promote, and market your brand, social media has a lot more to offer. Social media sites provide you with the insights by which you can analyze the performance metrics of the marketing campaigns. These insights help you with:

• monitoring the behavior of your targeted audience
• demographic performance
• knowing customer experience
• identifying the most popular content

With the help of these insights, a social media marketer along with its team can plan for the future social media marketing strategy. Ignoring the insights section will put all your marketing efforts in vain.If you have read this entire blog, we expect you to not repeat these mistakes in future. Have a great time planning for your next social media marketing strategy!