Let me start by asking you a simple question and what I will also want from you is a simple answer. How long have been marketing your business on social media? And what has been your result so far? Can the outcome be equated with the time you’ve spent doing it? Also, have you made social media marketing mistakes in business along the way?
Please answer this in the comment question.
Table of Contents
Social Media Marketing Mistakes
The truth you might not have heard is that it does not matter how long you’ve been doing it if you’re not doing it well……You’ll fail.
While we’re more familiar with marketing than we do about health as marketers, we also know there are some marketing blunders we should always avoid like posting at the wrong time.
For instance, I’m much aware that under no circumstance is it allowed to take two different types of anti-malaria tablets at once. While most of you may be nodding in agreement, a few mistakes are sweeping the social media arena that many of you may not be so aware of.
In this guide, I will share with you seven social media blunders. These are equivalent to the anti-malaria tablet combo (listed above) that has been committed by several top marketers. No one is above mistakes (not even Lisa and I).
Before I get to the main points of this post, I want you to understand that making mistakes on social media is often easier than you think.
However, most of these mistakes won’t often lead to a disaster that will destroy your brand but what will happen is that it will often make your readers shake their heads in disappointment and then leave without telling you.
And believe me; once they’re out due to such mistakes, you’ve lost them forever.
With that out of the way, let’s get started to avoid social media marketing mistakes in business.
Top 7 Social Media Mistakes In Business You Should Avoid Like The Plague
1. Trying to Kill 5 Birds With One Stone
Have you ever tried to kill many birds using one stone? If you’ve never attempted this before, I will like you to give it a shot and then, tell me your experience.
For those of you that will not carry out this assignment, here is the simple answer…. You’ll miss all the birds, plain and straightforward.
The same is similar to social media marketing. I’ve seen many people trying to spread their wings across all the social media networks out there. Yes, I also like the idea of “being everywhere” but it doesn’t work in some cases.
In fact, when it comes to social media, being everywhere is bad advice especially when you’re just starting. Check the time you put into Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin, etc. If you combine all this time and put it on Facebook and X Twitter alone, your result will be mind-blowing.
According to Tony Gaskins, Consistency is the key! If you can’t be consistent, then you can’t be anything.
Instead of dabbling across all the social media networks on the internet, you should pick a few and put all your efforts into them.
As a starter, begin with Twitter and Facebook, stay consistent, and build a substantial audience on these two networks, maybe when you’ve gotten enough audience there, you can now try some other ones like Instagram or Pinterest.
Spending time on all of them will only get you one thing…….“Nothing”.
2. Regularly Posting The Same Thing Over and Over Again
Some years ago, one of the traditional pieces of advice often heard on the internet regards to social media marketing was to post the same thing multiple times a day so you can reach as many people as possible.
The reason is that social media used to operate using chronological feeds just like our normal blog, the newest post appears at the top.
I’m sorry to tell you that today; this act is likely going to lose your traffic and followers more than anything else.
All of that has changed today. When it comes to what appears at the top of your feed, relevance is now the primary algorithm deciding factor.
For example, if you have liked a page and interacted with it before, new posts from that page will appear at the top of your feed even 24 hours later.
But if you post the same thing multiple times you are watering down your engagement per post, hence your followers are less likely not going to receive your updates.
Bottom Line: Don’t dilute the engagement of your posts by posting them frequently instead, post different stories per day and also make sure whatever you share is of great value. By doing this you can grow your social media following.
3. Being Overly Irritating
I might not have used the right word here, but I couldn’t think of any other way to express what I mean.
Do you know the fastest way to get to your reader’s/audience’s nerve? I will tell you. “Start tweeting non-stop advertisement for a company to them”. I’m sure you already know what their reaction will be; they’ll buy you a cup of coffee. (I wish this is true).
The main reason why most people come to sites like Facebook and Twitter is to engage and learn about new ideas. While they might be interested to hear about new products and services, they’re not receptive to getting all those uninterested messages persuading them to spend money.
This act is generally referred to as “spam”. At this time of the year I love the snooze for 30 days option over on Facebook.
I’ve seen many marketers doing this unholy act on social media, and if you’re one of them, I beg you to stop now else, you will soon find out that you’ve lost all your followers.
Worst case scenario, they will report you to the site’s administrators and your account will be blocked for life.
What to do instead? Start creating engaging content that will always wow your readers; they might eventually decide to take you up on whatever it is you’re promoting.
Just focus on building the relationship first, becoming an authority in your niche and the money will naturally come later.
4. Creating Too Many Accounts On One Site
I’ve seen many marketers creating multiple accounts on sites like Twitter and Facebook and pointing all of them to one website.
First of all, this act is not legally right and might put you in trouble if adequate precaution is not taken. Maintaining these numerous accounts will also be very time-consuming unless you have the money to hire social media managers.
But the truth is that it’s better to put all the effort into maintaining one active account. This will earn you more respect and followers in the long run.
You may think you’re smart by gaming the system. Instead, you will end up building an irrelevant and untargeted audience that will not care about what you’re doing. Is this what you really want?
Therefore, desist from indulging in such acts, stay clean, and build your audience legally, you will be happy at last.
5. Focusing All Your Marketing Efforts On Social Media
I think this is the most important of it all. Most marketers put lots of effort into building social media following forgetting they don’t own that property.
I discovered that most people don’t know what success means when it comes to social media marketing. The fact they’re getting lots of likes and comments on their campaigns to them is a sign of success. To me, it’s a sign of failure.
I will tell you why shortly.
A good social media marketer knows that social it’s only the first major point of call for their targeted audience to reach them. They understand that social media needs to lead somewhere else.
Think about it like this, what if those people just come to your status, likes, comments, and move on to something else, what happens next? Have you made the sale? I don’t know if you’re getting the point.
As a serious marketer, where you can transform them into paying customers. Apart from this, you’re only wasting your time and perhaps, money on social media.
Those social media metrics will not pay the bills so, get smart. Even if you don’t have a blog or a business website yet, start thinking of how to get one as soon as possible else.
The benefits of having a website for your business are quite enormous.
What if you gathered all those fans on Facebook and you wake up one day and discover your account has been deleted, will you call the Police? Noah Kagan had a similar experience some time ago.
He lost a Facebook account that was making him lots of money. After that ugly experience, he advised that you should never rely on other people’s channels to obtain customers again.
It’s better to control the destiny of your business yourself.
Therefore, stop relying on those social media metrics. Build your own estate and then, direct those social media leads to your estate so you can convert them into lasting customers.
6. Talking But Not Listening To Your Audience
Social media is not an office where you come, give your workers strict instructions, and then, leave without allowing them to air their views, stop bossing around like a boss and LISTEN.
To me, I always take it personally when a marketer posts something on Twitter or Facebook and I try to comment on it; maybe I asked him a question, but he never shows up to answer me. Sometimes, he will even like your comment but will not respond. What message are you trying to pass to me in doing this?
Social media is supposed to involve multiple people interacting with each other. Be sure to start paying attention and listen to your audience from today. Even if what the person said is irrelevant, it’s your duty to find a way and respond to him without sounding like a boss.
If someone leaves you a message, comments, or likes your status, send him a thank you message to show you appreciate him over time. This will earn you more respect and credibility.
It does not matter how big or powerful you are. The only factor that will make you ignore this advice is if you don’t give a f*ck about your audience.
7. Not Adding Images To Your Articles On Facebook
Obviously, not using visuals on your posts on Facebook will perhaps hinder the post’s engagement. This could prevent it from reaching the right people.
Recent research carried out by Zabisco discovered that 40 out of 100 people will respond better to visual information than plain text.
According to Hubspot, a good image can create social buzz. Great images increase brand awareness and build a more impressive landscape for your social media platform.
So, instead of posting content that will struggle to get attention, get an image to assist you with the job.
The next time you want to share something of great importance on Facebook, look for a relevant image and use it to power that post. Stop posting articles without pictures as it’s one of the big social media mistakes in business.
Conclusion: Social Media Marketing Mistakes In Business To Avoid
It’s usually easy to make these social media marketing mistakes without being aware of them, therefore, I urge you to be more mindful of how you approach social media marketing.
Take all the mistakes I shared here, and devise means to avoid them at all costs. If you do, you will see your social media engagement and business growing higher than you ever thought possible.
Check out 10 more social tips you can learn from here too!
How many social media mistakes have you made lately or have seen by others? We’d love to hear about them in the comments!
- 7 Social Media Mistakes That Are Costing You Followers & More - June 16, 2023
- Grow Your Blog Traffic With 5 Types of Content Quickly - November 15, 2022
As we strive for success, we find that many SAY they want to succeed, but the actions never come out to life. We must find those few who truly hunger to succeed and guide them to the comfort of income they desire. As mentors, coaches, and managers IT IS our job to weed out the ones who SAY they want it and the ones who really want SUCCESS! I know it can begin to discourage us at times, but you have to stay consistent and adamant with your business. After time, you will learn that this is a numbers game and for every x that join, x will actually be ready to rock! I have invested hours upon hours of time training and teaching individuals. It can be a tough one after spending so many hours and even days helping people and they just never act upon the PROVEN tips that you are giving. The truth is that not every person deep down really has a HUNGER for this business and some would just rather work a 9-5. I prefer to spend my days watching my children grow, lounging in my pajamas (if I choose), and really whatever each day holds. The point to this message is DO NOT EVER GIVE UP!!! If I had given up 8 years ago, I wouldn’t be 29 and have a paid in full home, paid in full vehicle, and the ability to be here typing this right now. You have to stay focused and when what you are doing doesn’t work… find a new niche or even find someone who you can relate to that knows the ropes of marketing and ask them for help.
Hello Theodore
Great post ! This post caught my eye because of the headline and Twitter is my go to social media platform. Your article was well written and insightful and very helpful to me.I am guilty of repeating the same tweet,the first thing I do when I get on Twitter is look at top tweets and if this is what my audience enjoys I haven’t seen anything wrong with retweeting it. Have you heard the saying if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. But from this date on I will just rehash the sentence thanks to this post. Good job Theodore for writing a value-packed post. Take care.
Hey Lisa,
I can say I pretty guilty of #5 and didn’t even realize it! Although I do have my own site, I always focus on building my following on social media (Facebook and Twitter mainly) But you’re right-if they delete my account for whatever reason, I’ve just lost all my followers and friends, which would be awful for me! I guess I must start trying to getting them to my blog more often then!
Thanks for sharing this!
Hi Marie, welcome to Inspire to Thrive! Oh yes, it’s rental property Marie. Do you have an email list? That’s how to get them more to your site. Social is great but it may not always be there but you have control over your own site and property. Thanks for coming by and have a great day.
Thanks! Yes I do have an email list and always trying to build that as well as social media. I just was focused more on the social accounts-but will have to put more effort into building a bigger email list.
Hi Marie, that’s great. that is something many miss out when they first start blogging. Glad to hear you are doing it right Marie.
Definitely learn some great tips, I used to create so many accounts on 1 website, and putting so much effort into getting traffic but now realised that isn’t great enough by doing that.
Thanks for coming Louis,
Creating multiple accounts for one website is a bad practice and won’t get you much.
Thanks
Hi Theodore,
Great tips here. I wholeheartedly agree about spreading yourself too thin. I love using twitter. It’s a great way to quickly and effectively communicate with my audience and fellow bloggers.
Glad you agree with me Ayodeji,
Thanks a lot for this wonderful comment of yours. Do have a lovely weekend,
Cheers!
Everybody knows social media is here to stay, especially when it comes to increasing the exposure of your small business online. It’s also a great way to gather business development data about your clients and competitors. Finally, social media is a great way to show off your company’s culture and quirky style. It’s no longer an option to use social media, it’s a must, and your customers are demanding it. If you’re new to the social media sphere, here are five social media mistakes that make you look dumb. Make sure to avoid these newbie mistakes.
You’ve made some valid points Smith and i agree with you.
Social media is here to stay and we all have to start making good use of it.
Thanks for commenting.
Hi Theodore,
Indeed an amazing post, well you have shared 7 most common mistakes that most of the beginners done in start. After reading this article one can easily understand how to keep away our self’s form these type of silly mistakes.
Keep sharing.
Regards
Mairaj
Thanks Muhammad,
I’m glad you like the article. Thanks a lot for stopping by and do enjoy your weekend.
Theodore
Hello Hi Theodore and Lisa
This is Fantastic Post Thanks For The Great Informative Writing, I think that’s right, i also new when doing SMO, I also doing those mistakes. Keep Sharing, Good Stuff,
have a Nice Day Ahead,
Regard
Blog Rank SEO
Hello Tabish,
We all are prone to making mistakes but, the main thing is to always learn to take corrections.
Thanks for your wonderful comment and do have a nice day too.
Theodore
Hi Theodore,
Glad to read your post!
A lot of Research and effort we make before publishing a Post but it often many times that your writing is not appreciated as it deserves. This time most of writers became very frustrated and loose interest in it.
If you are not utilising the proper tools and platform for your post then this might happen.
The technology is changing day by day so the social media is. Now latest trend are being set in social media as the fans are demanding, so in order to keep in pace with latest trends, Social Media Marketers also have to change their strategy.
Now people go for a complete research for a product before buying it. They also look for reviews, Post delivery support and assistance etc. By adding a good review of product you can make customer trust on your product. The selection of proper platform and time to use that platform is essential. It is seen that most appropriate time to promote your product is Monday.
I have learnt a lot of things from your post. I will try not to repeat these mistakes.
With regards
Saurav
Well said Saurav,
And i agreed with all the points you made. It indeed hurts when you put lots of efforts on a blog posts and it failed to garner any attention after you hit the publish button.
However, its always advisable to learn what others are doing and then, see how we can also refine their strategy and make it work for us.
Good to hear you will be avoiding this mistakes man, more strength to your elbows.
Hi Theodore, Hi Lisa,
The tips you shared here are going to help bloggers just starting out.
I remember making some of these mistakes when I first started blogging – in particularly trying to be on every social media platform out there. I finally focussed on the top traffic-drivers and did away with the other accounts that were only wasting time.
Thanks for sharing.
I hope you both have a great week.
Cori
Hello Cori,
Like I mentioned in the post, nobody is above mistakes; I bet we all have been guilty of many of them at one point. I’m glad to hear that you were able to identify the time wasters and finally put them aside focusing on the ones that bring the most results now, that’s what everyone should do.
Thanks a lot for partaking in the discussion.
Hi Corina, Oh yes, I was there too Corina with being on every social media network and trying everything out. It was fun but really overwhelming. I try to stick to just FB, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn now. It was easy since I defined my niche more too. When I blogged about everything it was almost a must for me to try all the new networks out to write about. Thanks for coming by and have a wonderful rest of the week.
Hi Theodore and Lisa,
I love “Killing 5 birds with one stone” because I always hear the buzz that we have to be everywhere. Well that’s fine if we had a crew of people working for us. But for the Solopreneur it is impossible. Choosing two top sites we love and where people are engaging with us is the key. Check it a few times a day for ten minutes or so and answer promptly.
As for consistency..yikes…I’ve seen those posts going out the same time every day with an inspirational saying on automation. Very nice, but please give me a thumbs up once in a while lol. That’s another blunder I’ve noticed.
For me, I’m still working on images. Every time I have used my own image, I do get a better response so it is a good reminder for me today to start doing that one again.
Thanks for an amazing article.
-Donna
Hi Donna, nice to see you here. You can say that again, we need a crew for all those birds. Oh yes, and the image size on certain social networks must be right size so they share well and can be seen well. I know I’ve played around with those a while. Another reason for a crew. Hope things are well your way Donna and have a great 4th of July! Thanks for taking the time to comment today.
Its been awhile Donna,
Good to see you’re still pushing it.
Seriously, trying to kill 5 birds with a single stone never works unless as you said, you have other people working for you. If now, thinking about that alone is even a dumb idea.
Yes, using quality images sure increases engagements and I’m happy to hear that it has been working for you, the more reason you should keep doing it
Thanks a bunch for stopping by and do enjoy your day
Hey Lisa,
The guest post is the best decision to allow. It’s good to see.
As we all know that social media is one of the best tools to use. But few people don’t know the perfect way to utilise the opportunity. They create more than one account at one social network.
Irritating people by sharing the same content again and again. People should know that such kind of things can make them look dumb.
The list is worth to follow.
Have a good day.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi, nice to see you back here! I don’t think there is a one perfect way that fits everyone. I think on Twitter you can reshare the same content again and again like Adrian mentioned. It would not work well on the Facebook network or others that only allow one. Thanks for coming by and I hope all is well your way Ravi, enjoy the rest of the week.
Hello Ravi,
Thanks a lot for stopping by. I don’t think it makes any sense to have more than one account on a particular social media, its kind of spammy and won’t do you much good.
Similar, posting the same content over and over again can dilute the posts engagement on social media. Its best to post it a few times and then, start mixing it up with other links.
Thanks for sharing your opinion with us.
Theodore
Hi Lisa and Theodore,
Hmm… Theodore, your “Regularly Posting The Same Thing Over and Over Again” may lead to certain confusions. Here is one of them…
I share this article today. Then I share many other articles. Next Monday I’ll share it once again. Then I share other articles. Plus some quotes. And other things. Then… Guess what… next Monday, again this article. And so on.
Do you see the pattern? Regularly (each Monday) I post this article again and again. Do you really think that this is bad?
You were able to see the pattern because I explained it to you. The regular visitor won’t notice it. Only a piece of software will notice it.
So… what do you think? Isn’t somehow something missing from that part of the article?
HI Adrian, oh yes, excellent point. It is good to tweet out old posts as not everyone sees all of your tweets. Days of week and time play an important role with that as well as how many people one follows, if they only look at lists, etc. Too many variables to almost calculate. I do tweet out old posts from time to time but should set it up more automatic. Thanks for coming by Adrian and hope all is well your way.
I agree with you Lisa,
Tweeting old posts is very advisable i mean, that’s the only way it can get to more eyes however, tweeting a particular post multiple times within a little period of time is what I’m against.
Thanks for this wonderful comment Adrienne,
Mixing up your social shares is not bad and sharing a particular post every once awhile (Mondays) is also not a bad idea at all.
However, i think you misunderstood my points. I’ve seen people that shares exactly the same thing very often. Like “you share a particular post now, share it again in 10 minutes time, again the next 5 minutes and so on”. He might share this same post like 20 consecutive times within an hour, now tell me, isn’t that irritating?
Maybe you’ve not noticed this before but I’ve noticed it over and over again which usually lead me to unfollow such person.
Thanks for coming.
Theodore.
Hi Theodore,
1) There’s a significant difference between Adrienne and Adrian,
2) No, I didn’t misunderstand you. Let’s recap…
There are multiple different ways to “regularly posting the same thing over and over again”
One way is the one you have described in your reply. Another way is the one described in my comment. While the way you described in your reply is a mistake indeed, the way I described isn’t a mistake.
The point of my previous comment is that your sub-headline we’re talking about here is confusing and may lead the reader to a wrong conclusion.
Instead of describing a social media mistake (as promised in the title of the article), that sub-headline describes an usage that sometimes is good marketing (the case from my comment), other times is bad marketing (the case from your comment). Therefore you cannot say that “regularly posting the same thing over and over again” is a social media mistake.
It’s a matter of logic. It’s like writing that the fruits are orange while you actually have in mind something else (the oranges are orange). While all oranges are orange, not all fruits are orange. I wonder if this comparison will not confuse you.
Anyway, the point is that the readers don’t read your mind. The readers read your written opinion. While your reply is correct (but some readers won’t read it), that part of the article that we’re talking about here is not.
Sorry for the mistake in your name Adrian and thanks for the correction,
Yes, i can now understand where you’re coming from and i agree with you, maybe the sub-heading is a bit confusing.
However, i also believe that if the reader should read even the first paragraph there, he should be able to understand exactly what i meant.
In the last paragraph, i made this statement “Bottom Line: Don’t dilute the engagement of your posts by posting it frequently instead, post different stories per day and also make sure whatever you share is of great value” which i believe clearly explained my points.
Maybe the sub-heading should have been Posting The Same Thing Multiple Times Per Day.
Thanks for the observation.
Hi Lisa. Hi Theodore,
What a great article! I made many mistakes in the beginning. Always trying to be everywhere at once. You know, it takes more time sharing and being on social media than it does blogging and managing your blog? Oy vey! I finally gave up and focused on my best traffic generators, Facebook and Twitter. Although, I do play a bit with Instagram and Pinterest, I don’t focus there at all. People need to quit trying to do it all and focus on a few.
I appreciate you sharing this with us. Passing it along. Happy Monday!
B
Hi Brenda, thanks for coming by my friend. I think we all made different kinds of mistakes in the beginning. Live and learn right? Yes, I try to do the same now as well – Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. I use Instagram for fun mostly. Thanks for taking the time to comment today and hope your Monday wasn’t too bad. Enjoy your evening!
Hello Bren,
I agree with you that it takes more time sharing and being on social media than it does blogging and managing your blog but, this is something most bloggers don’t know about.
Now, its good to be everywhere when you have other helping hands but, when you’re doing it all alone, its not advisable at all. You will end up wasting your time without achieving anything.
So the best thing is to choose a few channel and focus all your attention there just as you’re doing now.
Thanks a lot for stopping by Bren and do take care of yourself :).