8 Social Media Slip-Ups and How You Can Avoid Them

We all focus on what all we ‘should’ be doing for an out-of-the-box social media strategy. Ever tried thinking of what you should not be doing?

An effective digital marketing strategy is born when you make way for a thoughtfully planned social media strategy. The strategy defines the importance of each and every function that we implement while gearing up to revolutionise our social media game.

The idea is to keep tab of the things that a startup should or should not be doing. Here are some of the most common social media mistakes and how you can avoid making them.

1. Not Aligning with your Target Audience

You need to clearly define your target audience. Once that is done, you need to identify the platforms on which your target audience is active. You can’t target your content to a platform where your target audience doesn’t even exist.

2. Sidelining Video Content

Would you prefer to read a mundane email about a company’s promotional campaign or check out that same campaign on their Snapchat or Instagram story?

Companies are making use of platforms like Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook to leverage video content. Take Facebook’s live stream feature, Snapchat’s discover feature or Instagram stories for instance. We all use these video-led platforms for the simple fact that they’re user-adaptive and engaging.

3. Not Using Enough Imagery

Content that is supported with visual imagery or videos usually ranks higher on social media platforms. Your target audience is likely to react more to a visual post rather than a post which has bland text. Take Instagram’s marketing efforts or Snapchat’s marketing efforts for example, which do well because of how they use visuals to promote conversation among people.

4. Not Adhering to Any Specific Timeline

There needs to be a sense of quality as well as quantity when you curate content. So, while you’re getting on to the level of creating content that goes viral, you also need to measure the time and day at which you will receive the most engagement.

There should be a specific time or day that you adhere to while disseminating content. Posting one day per week or posting every day of the week would not result in any traction at all.

5. Constructing Repetitive Content

Take yourself for instance. If you were to watch an ad more than once while browsing, you would simply close that window.

The key is to provide your audience with a mix of engaging and interactive content that doesn’t get repetitive or mundane. Trying out different topics or content buckets that appeal to your target audience would help make an impact.

6. Not Keeping a Tab on your Market Competitors

We all know about the famous saying that goes, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

Well, in the digital world, it comes with a slight twist, “Align yourself with your competitors before you align yourself with your business.” Knowing who your competitors are and what they are doing is just as important as knowing everything about your own business.

7. Not Using Social Media Management Tools

With the evolution of social media, there’s also been an evolution of sorts on how to manage it. Social media management tools like Buffer, Hootsuite, Social Oomph, or Sprout Social could help in scheduling your content, collaborating with team members, and monitoring results.

8. Not Having a Conversational Approach

Break the ice. Be it your competitors or your audience. Starting a discussion on a trending topic, asking a question or starting a debate will all turn your content into conversational content.

Lastly, social media blunders would look like blunders only if you didn’t know how to rectify them. So, start now!