In today's business climate, social media marketing holds incredible power! It has become the main platform that hosts communication for family, friends, and old acquaintances. Moreover it has become the main source of information for both professional and personal use. Majority of people knows how social media works, but only a few have understanding on what mistakes to avoid in social media marketing!
As far as your business is concerned, social media can be a great force for good — attracting prospective customers, boosting sales, being part of the online conversation, and even helping you become a greener business. But when you commit certain mistakes, you risk undoing all of your hard-earned social media achievements.

In this article, I will explain common social media marketing mistakes to avoid.

Trying to Do Too Much
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, YouTube, Pinterest, Google+ — it’s tempting to jump in and open an account on every channel. But developing an effective social media presence takes time. Instead, focus on one or two social media platforms that offer the greatest potential for your particular products or services and place your efforts there.

Just as it is applicable in any business, when it comes to your social media channels, start small.

Failing to Post
Brand recall is a very important thing in any business! As in social media, the goal is to stay on the minds of your audience so that you’ll be their primary source in their time of need. Provide them regularly with content that meets their needs and interests (rather than bombarding them with non-benefit driven promotions).

Making Your Posts All About You
It’s true that one of the benefits of social media is enhanced awareness of your brand. But some businesses lose sight of the bigger picture, focusing disproportionately on how fabulous their products or services are. Posts that take an approach of “this is the consumer problem and here’s how our product can fix it” are acceptable from time to time, but don’t let this kind of content become unabashed self-promotion — this will definitely turn off some of your followers.

Putting Them on Hold
One of the biggest mistakes that people make in social media is putting the customers on hold, and by that I mean not responding (immediately) to customers' inquiries or relevant comments! The reason is quite obvious- a response is a primary customer service expectation, this help improve your customer experience. Never put your followers on hold! Be proactive by responding to your social media followers’ inquiries both on and off your page so you can make a connection with your audience.

Lack of Creativity
In any business, competition is fierce! So to survive, you must go beyond the norm and make use of all your creative juices. Grab your audience’s attention through humor, motivation, inspiration, or give them an offer they can’t refuse. Make your posts engaging, something they can comment on or ask questions from! Shock and awe them, and surprise them with something unique!

Not Having a Strategy
Less than 20 percent of businesses say that their social media strategy is mature. Social media users are inundated with information and messages every second of the day. Businesses that don’t have a strategy won’t ever cut through the clutter and deliver an effective message to their target audience. Creating a strategy includes having distinct and measurable goals, developing a clear social media policy, thinking through a brand’s social media voice, and planning out a content calendar with end goals in mind.

Without a clear strategy, businesses could create the best content on the web, but receive little to no engagement.

Too Much Involvement
Good promotion entails advertising to the right crowd, at the right time, and without pushing their “off” buttons. Think about your favorite TV commercials you have enjoyed watching. Would you still have respect for the product being advertised if the same commercial was advertised every 5 minutes? Too much of anything can harm your business. Be original and have adequate timing to avoid annoying your customers.

Isolated in One Department
Marketing in only one department limits the multi-functional role that it can have on your business. Different agencies that are the most useful are: advertising, media buying, web development, SEO, PR and customer experience. This should be shared across your company so competitors and customers know you mean business, and see you aren’t limited to strictly 1 area of a marketing push. Get out of your comfort zone and try something new. This will help you in the long run and will help you establish a clear and varied road map for success.

Not Understanding Your Platform
You have to figure out what type of social network fits you and your business. For some companies with limited time to dedicate to social media marketing, it can be frustrating to try to keep up with every hot new social media platform available. Use the platforms your audience is most active on to avoid wasting time as well as have clear goals and a solid content strategy for each platform.

Paying for Your Fanbase
You’ll get about as much engagement out of a stone as you will by buying followers. Not only that, but it will jeopardize your account as more social media pages are taking action against unnatural practices. As long as you follow the above tips in social media marketing, you will never have to resort to “cheating” tactics like paying for fans, likes, views or any other campaign that will increase your fanbase.

noted

informative

In any business you venture into, the social media is a great tool for promotion but in the bid to achieve this we should be very cautious.