The Most Common Social Media Mistakes

Social media—the one thing that everyone loves to hate, and hates to love. Like it or not, social media has become a part of everyday life. But social media is more than just teenagers scrolling through mindless videos and memes, it has become a huge tool when it comes to running your business. We all make mistakes every day. It happens. Let’s take a look at some common social media mistakes that you can avoid to help grow your business!

Mistake #1: Using the Wrong Platform

Social media platforms aren't a one size fits all solution. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok, and LinkedIn all attract different users and promote different types of interaction. It is essential to use the right social media platform that best suits your business and reaches your target clientele. If you're in the b2b community, networking on LinkedIn could help recruit top talent, and establish your name in the business community. Maybe you want to showcase your daily or weekly specials at your restaurant. Appealing to foodies on Instagram is a great way to showcase your menu. It’s all about experimenting when it comes to social media. If you aren’t getting the results you want on a certain platform, maybe it’s time to spool up a page on one of the platforms you may not have originally considered.

Mistake #2: Focusing On Quantity Over Quality

We all know that person who posts every detail of their day on social media. If you’re like me, when you are doing your daily scrolling, you end up getting in the habit of scrolling right over their posts. The same philosophy can apply to your business page. If you are constantly posting content just to post, chances are your followers may be getting in the habit of scrolling past your content as well. While it is important to post on social media, it’s equally, if not more, important to post quality content, and not just have an inordinate number of posts for the sake of posting. You want your followers to be interested in the content you are posting, and the ultimate goal is to get the users to stop their scrolling and dig into and interact with your posts. By strategically posting quality, informative, and entertaining posts and not overwhelming your followers, you have a better chance of increasing your awareness and engagement.

Mistake #3: Only Posting Business Related and “Salesy” Posts

Social media can be an extremely useful tool when it comes to boosting your sales. However, it’s important that you don’t overuse your social platforms to sell, sell, sell, essentially giving your followers the used car salesman vibe. Instead, utilize your social platforms to showcase the culture of your business. Let your followers get to know you and your staff. When you throw in posts such as “Did you know...” and “On this day in...” you can often create conversation amongst your followers in the comments, driving more engagement on your page, and hopefully expanding your reach on your social platforms.

Mistake #4: Not Utilizing Trends

Social media is a fast-moving train barreling down the tracks. Our advice? Hop on and hang on! It can be seemingly impossible to keep up with the ever-changing trends that are going viral on social media. Users on social media have short attention spans, and it is important to grab that attention when you can and get your business in front of users as much as possible. One of the growing trends is creating short catchy videos which have become popular thanks to TikTok and Facebook and Instagram Reels. More and more people are spending time scrolling through TikTiok watching video after video. What does this mean for you? It may mean that it’s time for you to step outside of your comfort zone and step in front of the camera to keep your followers up to date on the ins and outs of your business. Whether it is a product showcase, informative how-to video, or a behind-the-scenes look of a project you are working on, Reels and TikToks can be a great way to do that.

Want to provide your followers with a good laugh? Maybe it’s time to get the office together to try out that new TikTok dance that is going viral. It’s never too late to show off your business’s personality! Don’t forget to utilize hashtags when you can. Those hashtags will help your content show up to your relevant audience, and can be a huge help to expand your social media presence!

Mistake #5: Posting Inconsistently

Earlier we talked about posting too much on social media, but it’s also important to make sure that you don’t have long dry spells where you post nothing at all. Today, more than ever, when users are doing Google searches for businesses and services, more often than not your Facebook page is one of the first results they will see in their search. You want to show that you are reputable in your field, and more importantly that you are alive. Pulse posting is a great way to accomplish this. By posting several times throughout the week, you will avoid over-posting and lessen the risk of oversaturating your followers with information. For some of you, it might be difficult to remember to post several times a week. A good solution to this is to develop a content calendar and schedule your posts for the month in advance. By using this method, you won’t have to have to sit and wonder if you made your post for the day. If you simply don’t have the time or energy to focus on your social media efforts, no worries, our Storm team may be able to help!

Mistake #6: Not Posting Educational or Entertaining Content

Let’s be honest. Most of us turn to social media to be entertained. We all love laughing and sharing that daily viral video that makes us laugh out loud. So why not make it your goal to create content for your pages that make people laugh, smile, and want to share it? You can post entertaining content while still informing users about your business and services. Creating educational videos and graphics can also be a great way to engage your audience. Creating educational content can serve a couple of purposes. When you post educational content about your business or field, you are showing that you are an authority and source of information for those who are interested in learning more. It can also help your followers come to the realization that they don’t know as much as they thought they did, and they need to enlist your expertise to help them in their endeavors. It never hurts to throw in some office culture posts that can bring a smile to someone’s day!

Mistake #7: Not Tracking Analytics

Posting on social media is a constant experiment. Like every experiment, it is important to track the results so you can learn what works and what doesn't. Likes, shares, and retweets are all ways to measure the success or failures of your social posts. If you don’t track and monitor your engagement, you risk posting irrelevant content to your audience. We all love the feeling that we get when we have a post that generates a ton of likes, shares, and comments, so it’s important to capitalize on the content that is working and driving that engagement.

In addition to tracking social analytics, it is also important to have Google Analytics set up to track the impact that social media is having on your website traffic. Monitoring where your website traffic comes from is always important, but when it comes to social media it will help give you an idea of which social platforms are performing more than others. You will be able to use this information in the future to help guide your content with the goal of bringing more visitors to your site.

Social media is an ever-growing and ever-changing business tool. Much like your business, the key to social media success is to adapt and be open to change. Taking advantage of social media when it comes to your business can help you reach a whole new audience and build a sense of community with your customer base. If you are new to the social media world, check out one of our DIY Social Media Strategies for Business courses! Hopefully, you can avoid some of these social media mistakes, and who knows, your business might be the next viral sensation!