The Common Social Media Mistakes And How To Avoid Them

Unlike in the movies and on television, the real-life act of opening a bank vault is dependent on a specific plan. For the bank employees there are no explosives involved, but rather individual steps to follow. The goal of a successful opening is achieved using a combination of mindfulness, intense listening skills, and a steady hand. The inability to unlock the vault results in, at the very least, wasted time and effort. And although part of a daily routine, this task never loses its sense of excitement.

Using social media as a tool to market your business, product, or idea, has many similarities. Like unlocking a bank vault, utilizing social media successfully requires mindfulness, intense listening skills, and an unwavering consistency. Not following the specific steps will also result in wasted time and effort. And although it probably will not be featured in any upcoming movie, a successful social media strategy can result in a greater access to cash, and just like with the bank vault, that is always exciting.

Social media:

Social media can be broken down into its two parts: social refers to the interaction with people; the sharing and receiving of information. Media refers to the actual instrument of communication: the internet, television, and radio. The term social media specifically refers to computer-mediated technologies that allow the creating and sharing of information, ideas, career interests, and other forms of expression, via virtual communities and networks. Popular networks or platforms are Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter.

Social media can be the perfect marketing tool. Using it for the right purpose and in the right context across relevant platforms, will allow you to achieve the optimal success of growing your business. The numbers are in your favour: according to Statistics Canada, “in 2018 there were approximately 25.3 million social media users in Canada, a figure that is projected to grow to 27.1 million in 2023”. It is to your benefit to utilize this marketing tool. “Your customers are almost certainly on social media, so it can be a great way to reach them”.

The benefits of social media:

• Social media enables a business to reach a large target audience efficiently and in real-time.
  
  
  • As of January 2020, 67% of Canadians have active accounts on the top social networks.
    
    
    
• Social media allows you to understand your prospective client better.
  
  
  • You can gain valuable insights about your target audience by following them on social media.
    
    
    
  • Listening to their questions and responses also helps you to understand their interests and needs.
    
    
    
• This tool can help drive traffic to your website.
  
  
  • According to a recent report by Sprout Social, 87% of consumers who follow a specific brand will visit the brand’s website or app.
    
    
    
• You can determine who your target audience is and how they perceive your brand.
  • Almost all social media platforms provide free user analytics to understand the performance of your marketing campaigns and social media strategies.

• Social media provides the perfect opportunity to engage with your community.
  • You can tell stories which enable and encourage engagement.

  • As well, if you receive negative feedback on a product or service you provide, you can personally address it in the comments.

• You can use social media to create a human and emotional side to your business.
  • Sharing posts that show who is behind the brand will build trust.

• Many social media platforms are image-based.
  • As a USC™ Certified UltimateStager™, a UCPO™ Certified Ultimate Professional Organizer™, a UDRC™ Certified Ultimate Decorator & ReDesigner, or a UEPC™ Certified Ultimate Event Planner™, this provides the perfect opportunity to showcase your many successful projects.

  • “Visual content is 40x more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content”. Why? Because “people connect more emotionally with images than text.” Just imagine the engagement you could foster with your many “before & after” transformations!

The common social media mistakes and how to avoid them:

• Although the goal of social media marketing is to create product awareness over multiple platforms, promoting your company too much can turn your audience off.
  
  
  • In fact, according to Sprout Social, 35% of consumers will unfollow a brand if they post too much promotional content.

How to avoid this social media mistake: Your objective is to connect with your community and share entertaining and informative content. “Find the right mix of promotional versus engaging posts for your business”. The results of your user analytics will determine what ratio works best for your company. For example, perhaps a 3-to-1 ratio, of 3 engaging posts for every 1 promotional post, will be ideal for you.

• Every social media platform has a different format and different followers who are active at different times. Treating them all the same can cost you.
  • “If you create one generic post and copy and paste for every platform, you’ll see lackluster results”.

How to avoid this social media mistake: Do your research and set up a plan for each platform. Your user analytics will help you to determine the best time to post, as well as the ideal format.

• Some businesses focus on quantity over quality; posting irrelevant or uninspiring content can have lasting effects.
  • In fact, 51% of consumers will unfollow a brand that posts irrelevant content.

How to avoid this social media mistake: Post mindfully; share valuable content that will connect you with your audience. Your posts should entertain and educate, ideally in that order. According to Sprout Social, 48% of consumers follow brands in order to be entertained, while 35% follow brands in order to be educated.

• Not focusing on your target audience, may leave you tempted to create posts about you and your company. Do not make it about you, make it about your audience. Creating content about your business will not foster a connection with your community.

How to avoid this social media mistake: Listen closely to your audience; listen to their questions and concerns. This will enable you to create content that addresses their needs. Read and respond to the comments. In fact, take it a step further: “Use feedback and engagement as a way to create new content”, as well as to constantly improve what you post.

• Utilizing social media successfully requires a plan. Following the specific steps you set out for yourself, will ensure your time and effort are not wasted.

How to avoid this social media mistake: Take the time to define your objectives and the corresponding steps required to achieve them. For instance, you may be using social media to increase the awareness of your brand. If so, you need to determine what analytics will measure this success. Perhaps it will be likes/comments, or shares/retweets. The steps you set out for yourself need to be both achievable and realistic, as well as have a deadline in place. By creating a plan, you will be able to monitor your progress in real time.

• Posting inconsistently can sabotage your efforts. This consistency includes not only the frequency of your posts, but the content of it as well.
  
  How to avoid this social media mistake: Engaging in daily social media activity will ensure you maintain a consistent pattern in your posting. “Posting regularly and stopping cold turkey can affect impressions, reach and other factors”. As well, be consistent in the content presented in your posts. Ensure it aligns with your brand and what you want it to represent.

Social media can help you make the necessary connections you need, to help further your business regarding your client base, as well as further your knowledge in your own industry by connecting you with other experts. A successful social media strategy requires mindfulness, intense listening skills, and an unwavering consistency. Why bother? There are many benefits to utilizing this incredible marketing tool.

These benefits can include customer reach, generating traffic to your website, providing an opportunity to engage with your audience, and offering a platform to showcase your images. A picture is worth a thousand words; in the case of social media, this can translate into hundreds of likes and shares. For creative businesses, this provides an opportunity for you to share your visual content. A single image from each one of your successful projects has the potential to reach thousands of people, and perhaps even more importantly, to connect you with your community.

Just like unlocking a bank vault, this daily activity can result in a greater access to cash.