Common Mistakes Businesses Make on Social Media

So much of marketing is guess work. I mean there are formulas, but with social media especially, there’s a LOT out of your hands. You don’t control how many people see your content (I call this rented space), you don’t control when (the event that they’re seeing now on their feed, was actually a week ago). But we know the best practices to have the BEST chances to getting in front of the most people, or having the algorithms (aka powers that be) share our content to the masses, but what about what we SHOULDN’T do?

I’ve advised clients on what TO DO to grow, to get engaged people (this feels like a SLOG this year especially since social media metrics across the board are in the gutter. Instagram included), and to ultimately… get sales or leads. But I’ve also coached a lot of clients on what to STOP doing.

Here’s what NOT to do in 2024 on social media that’s impeding your growth.

1. Post Inconsistently
   Consistency breeds growth. Your audience learns when to expect you. They learn when to watch for you.

   Do this instead: pick a schedule that works for YOU. Use a scheduler so you can take an hour or two each week to batch your content.

2. You Sell Too Much
   I’m not sure how many times I need to remind people that we don’t use social media to be sold to. Promotional material is a necessary component to any social media strategy because conversions/sales drive business growth. However, it should not be the only content posted.

   Do this instead: Ultimately content should fall under three buckets - Growth content (reels, long-form content); Nurture content (daily content, carousels, etc…); Sales content (promos, etc…). Having solid content pillars of the overall topics you post about and then ensuring each of those pillars has

3. Having poor quality graphics or photos or video
   There is nothing worse than seeing poor quality content. Images that look stock-y or off-brand. Images that look like they were drawn in paint. I once worked with a client who sent us a logo he designed and we really thought he drew it in Paint. He loved it, but MAN was it terrible. I’m not a logo designer by any means, and my graphic design ability goes about as far as Canva but this was just… bad.
   Do this instead: You can purchase templates, you can utilize canva for well-designed free templates, or better yet get some great brand photos to utilize for your brand. You can hire a brand photographer or a graphic designer to help you create either of these if you’re not comfortable doing it for yourself.

4. Misusing Hashtags (or not using any at all!)

   Are you creating random hashtags? Random like #TodayIsTerrible or something that has NOTHING to do with what your audience might be searching for or is otherwise unrelated to your brand? Stop it. They’re not helping you. Everyone says social media is a lot like SEO these days - which is 100% true, but that doesn’t mean that hashtags are dead. They’re not. You can still use them. We do hashtag research for our audits so if you need a refresher, get in touch.
   Do this instead: Make sure your captions are optimized with the keywords your ideal audience is using to search, and use strategic hashtags - 6-10 is recommended; but I say use as many as you can that are RELEVANT.

5. Purchasing Followers
   This is so 2012. Just stop. Followers do not always equal engagement or sales. You’re boosting your metrics that, in all reality, may not make a difference to the overall marketing or bottom line. Plus purchased followers get you dinged on Instagram, and they don’t at all help with your engagement. Save your money. 10/10 do not recommend.
   Do this instead: If you want to get your content in front of more eyeballs, focus on engaging content that will attract new people (reels! Contests!).

6. Posting TOO frequently

   I never recommend posting more than 1-2x per day. There’s a clothing brand I follow who legit posts, at least once per hour. Just looking at the page as I write this there are four posts within the past 3 hours. That’s just… a lot y’all. There’s another well-known social media expert who used to post repeatedly… like 3 times in a row, and those posts just repeatedly show up in the feed and it feels like too much. So be mindful of posting too frequently. OR instead of posting too frequently, if something is exciting, share it to stories, then save to a highlight!

   Do this instead: Create a schedule for yourself. Stick to it. Consistency and quality win every time.

7. Ignoring Your Analytics

   Looking at your analytics allows us to see what’s working and what’s not. It shows us where traffic is coming from (platform-wise); what content performs, and what doesn’t. Ignoring your analytics means you’re likely to see what’s not working - not just on social media but your marketing in general.
   [READ: here’s a reminder about what metrics matter.]

   Do this instead: Look once per month to see what’s working, what your top-performing content was and what kind of flopped. Also, it’s helpful to track growth over time

Here’s the thing with social media that makes it so FICKLE and tricky and ultimately, frustrating for business owners who expect more from it. If you show up consistently, and authentically and engage with your audience - you’ll see growth in your brand awareness, you’ll build that community, and you’ll capture those leads and sales. If you think that you can post willy nilly, kind of like we all did back in the early 2010s without a strategy, whenever we want, you’re going to be mistaken and disappointed with your results every time.

What you actually need? A solid understanding of your audience, a solid understanding of your content pillars, concrete and smart goals, and quality content that aligns with all of those. Need support with your social media? Let’s discuss how we can help.