As of this year, there are 4.62 billion people worldwide who now use social media. You’re likely one of them, and probably also using it for personal reasons. 

To that end, when it comes to using social media for business, you might make the common mistake of thinking you know exactly how to go about it. But wait—your social media marketing results don’t seem to meet your targets. Is it possible that you’re going about this all wrong? 

It’s more than possible—it’s likely. 

Social media is the driving force behind connected activity worldwide. (Image Source)

Most marketers assume that how they manage their personal profiles can easily be applied to brand pages and business accounts as well. You’re probably not even aware that you’re making these top social media marketing mistakes. So, to help you maximize your social media marketing efforts, we’ve put together the most common ones below:

1. You’re posting way too often

When it comes to social media marketing, quantity doesn’t win over quality. Unless your content requires you to post multiple times a day on Facebook or demands successive tweets on Twitter, you’re likely just spamming your followers’ feeds; and you’ll end up with more unfollows than engaged audiences. 

Remember, there are very few instances that will demand multiple tweets in an hour. Are you live-tweeting an event, for example? Covering an important talk and sharing real-time insight? Twitter is a great way to share what would have been an exclusive experience with your followers. Other than that, if you’re simply retweeting links and memes, resist the urge to post every hour. The same rule applies to other platforms. If you’re pushing too much content on your followers’ feeds, your posts essentially become nothing but noise. 

Focus instead on posting high-quality content that delivers real value for your customers. Even if you only post once a day on your platforms, it’s better than posting five times a day when you have nothing of value to share. 

2. Being on all social media platforms

As a content marketer, it’s tempting to jump on whatever new social media platform is currently taking over the spotlight. However, it’s not necessarily true that this is where you should be dedicating time and effort. 

For example, you could be a brand that targets a largely elderly audience or retirees and you’re spending all your time and effort on Snapchat and TikTok, barely engaging target audiences on these platforms. As a result, you’re unable to focus on creating material for your existing followers on platforms like Facebook or Instagram. 

The point is, adding more platforms to an already busy roster of social media profiles means additional time and effort to create tailored content for each. This is time and effort that you probably don’t have as a content marketer. 

Identify channels your audience actually spends time on and focus on creating better content for those.

3. Posting landscape videos

Does this seem silly to you? After all, isn’t 1,024 px by 512 px the recommended ideal image size for social media platforms? 

Hear us out. 

It may have been true for Facebook and Twitter, but the arrival of Instagram changed the game. A study conducted by Buffer shows that square videos generate higher views and engagement.

This could also be because most people check social media via their mobile phones, and square videos are easier to watch on smaller devices. 

4. Sharing only your own content

Producing original content is important for content marketing, but sharing only your own original material on social media can be a big mistake. Curated content can help expand your current audience base. By sharing original content, you’re basically marketing to the same people who are likely already familiar with what you’re selling and what you have to say. 

If you add curated content that’s relevant to their needs, that you know they’re interested in, you can potentially boost brand awareness and raise your following on social media.  

Be sure you mix up your content offering. Original material, mixed with curated content, and even user-generated content. You’d be surprised at how much it can help grow your online following.

5. Not putting money behind your posts

The great thing about social media marketing is that you can easily scale advertising to suit your budget and resources. That said, when you have a post that you think could potentially do well based on your insight, data, or even just experience, boost it. 

The engagement rate of your post without any help from paid advertising is already a good indicator of whether or not it’s worth putting money behind it. If you see that it’s doing quite well, chances are boosting the post will deliver equally good results. 

Remember, choose posts that demonstrate above-average engagement. This applies to any post across your different social media platforms. This is a great technique because it encourages you to prioritize making great posts first and not rely entirely on boosting posts to get your engagement. This prevents you from relying too much on paid ads to achieve your social media targets. 

6. Ignoring questions from followers on social

Remember this statistic: 70% of customers are more likely to use a brand’s product when the brand is responsive on social media platforms. 

Simply answering questions or addressing comments on social media platforms makes customers more loyal to the brand, more likely to share their good experiences with others, and more likely to purchase a product or avail of the service. 

Yet, the same study notes that brands tend to ignore a shocking 89% of people who are expecting a response. 

If you have the option to dedicate a single person to a specific task, we recommend looking for someone who can focus on social media, not just to post and maintain your pages, but to answer and address the concerns that come up on your pages. 

Are you guilty of making any of these social media mistakes? Are there any more you think should have been mentioned here? 

If you want to learn more, reach out to us. Book a consultation or get started with LeadsPanda to find out how we can help you. 

For any questions, leave a comment below or check out our LinkedIn or Twitter. If you found this post useful, feel free to share it on your social media.