Social media marketing is full of challenges. You have to take care of so many factors simultaneously, and it’s normal to slip up every once in a while.
However, small mistakes can bear a high price if they happen too often, especially in the world of social media.
So, let’s talk about the biggest mistakes social media marketers make and how to avoid them.
1. Not knowing your audience
Not knowing your audience comes in two forms – you either:
- Target everyone and anyone you can reach
- Target the wrong audience
Both mistakes cost money and time and will lead to a marketing dead end.
Additionally, by targeting the wrong people, you risk getting negative feedback from the people that don’t need your service but are still bothered with ads.
Lastly, not knowing your audience can be a sign that you don’t know what you’re pitching all that well. If you aren’t sure who your target audience is, it’s time to start your research: customer surveys, competitor analysis, and Google Analytics are great places to start.
2. You don’t follow through with the engagement
Once you do hit your audience, it’s essential to keep them engaged. From interactive posts to comments, you should be there to let people know that you hear their feedback.
Don’t ignore the comment section. Even if it’s just a simple “hey, this is awesome”, make sure to say thanks and show some appreciation for the people that bought your product.
Also, if you don’t like something in the comment section, do not delete it. Deleting comments will only bring bad internet karma. Instead, if there’s a chance for some healthy communication, reach out to that client and see how you can make things right.
3. Neglecting cybersecurity
If your brand has real people behind it, it has real cybersecurity risks. Most cyber-attacks happen due to human error, and in the world of digital marketing, one mistake can break a brand overnight.
One of the biggest cybersecurity mistakes social media marketers make is using weak passwords. Easy passwords may be easy to remember, but they’re also easy to guess. If your social media accounts get hacked, there’s no telling what could happen next. Hackers can post malicious content all over your accounts, they can steal your and your customer’s information, leak it on the dark web, and may never regain access to your accounts.
The best approach you can take is:
- Avoid using the same password twice
- Use complex phrases with symbols, numbers, and letters
- Don’t use actual words in your passwords (keeps you safe from dictionary attacks)
- Set up 2-factor authentication
- Change and update your passwords every few months
If you manage many accounts, you may want to resort to a password manager, which will keep your credentials safe and sound and readily accessible at all times.
4. Your content is not providing value
Every engagement with your audience should provide at least a bit of value. It doesn’t always have to be ground-breaking – a little fact or a thoughtful comment will be just fine. People new to the marketing game often post the same things over and over again, making it impossible to provide any value in the long run.
A nice direction to take is to describe your product/service using layman’s terms. You can get a lot of valuable content AND help your audience understand you better with a single move. Of course, this is just one way to do it out of many. As long as you don’t go overboard.
5. Hashtag abuse
Your posts don’t need a million hashtags. This may be instinctive to some marketers, but the examples we see in our feeds every day tell a different story.
Stuffing your post with hashtags that are barely relevant will lead to a target audience miss. It does look lucrative, hashtags providing reach and all, but you shouldn’t overdo it.
Sit down and explore all the hashtags you want to use and see if they’re related to your post or not. If yes, keep the hashtag. If not (which is more likely), ditch it.
6. It’s always about the product
When evergreen content is created, marketers have a promotion-heavy approach. This content should always stay relevant to your brand, and it usually talks about a broad range of related topics. However, beginner marketers fall into the trap of talking about the product/service to a point where it starts working against the brand.
Make sure to cover the actual concerns and needs of your potential clients. If you have these covered, organic reach will start growing in no time, and your customers will be more eager to engage.
7. You ignore useful digital tools
As a social media marketing expert, you spend a lot of your time creating content schedules. Going manually through everything has its upsides – there’s less space for errors, and you get a better overview of the content.
On the other hand, using digital marketing tools will unlock a whole new world of features. Truth be told, a lot of these apps have a steep learning curve, but it’s always worth the time. Another great benefit of digital tools is scalability.
8. You don’t have a customer avatar
Lastly, we need to mention the customer avatar. This concept revolves around you building the ideal customer for your product. A lot can be learned through this, and some would call it a never-ending process.
Having a solid customer avatar will enable you to address the concerns of your clients better. You will also have the opportunity to sniff out the bugs and errors in your product, all from the point of view of a user.
Lastly, once you get to know your target audience better, you’ll know how to broaden it. This is how your customer avatar evolves hand-in-hand with the brand.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes!
Mistakes happen to everyone, especially in the world of social media marketing. Trends change quickly, apps go through wild updates, and current events can crush a campaign no matter how strong it is.
That’s why it’s important to get a hold of the things you can control, thus minimizing any potential damage.
About the Author
Thomas Reeves is a freelance marketing advisor. With a Master’s degree in Communication and Media Studies and 5 years of experience in social media marketing, he’s been helping businesses build effective marketing strategies and skyrocket their customer bases.
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