Common Mistakes in Social Media Marketing

Being on social media platforms is critical in this time and age. Entrepreneurs, managers and marketing professionals know this and try to take advantage of this fabulous advertising channel. There are hundreds of millions of people on social media platforms at any given time and knowing how to attract them, connect and establish a relationship with them is crucial.

Social media marketing has evolved immensely over the years. Almost all marketers know the basics – how to interact with people, communicate with them and advertise their products and services. Although social media marketing is quite simple and straightforward, especially when it comes to the basics, there are some managers and marketers who continue to make obvious beginner mistakes. Quite surprisingly, these mistakes happen to many marketers, but fortunately, they are easy to avoid. Let’s jump in and talk about the most frequent mistakes in social media marketing:

Underestimating the work needed

Social media is a lot of work, especially if you want a great campaign. Moreover, social media marketing is an ongoing, continuous process. You simply can’t start a campaign and stop it after a few weeks – your customers and fans want to hear from you constantly. Also, while a tweet is just 140 characters long and Facebook photos can be uploaded in mere seconds, your message behind these posts matters the most. Keep in mind that a short post can take hours to write and adapt into a cohesive, attractive message.

In addition, managing your account can take a lot of time. You will need to be up and running 24/7, so having a social media team might be a good idea, especially for larger companies. Some team members can create posts with images, graphics and videos, while others can answer questions or chat with customers.

Not enough content

Some companies start their social media marketing campaign by setting up dozens of accounts all over different social media platforms. Then, they start to share and post their messages, but soon find out that they do not have enough content to go on. In time, their social media following will decrease, customers will lose interest and their brand will suffer. Rather than following this approach, try to create accounts on only a handful of social media platforms, preferably on the most popular ones. Also, try to post 2 to 3 times a week on each account and make sure you always post something important and relevant to your customers and followers. Mix in self-promotion messages with freebies and sale offers with special contests, and so on. Simply put, try to bring value and connect with your followers as often as you can.

Not knowing your target audience

There’s a huge number of social media marketers that simply don’t understand what their target audience needs. Or they don’t even understand which is their target audience. It’s quite bewildering, but there are companies which advertise their products and services to the wrong groups of followers. For instance, Millennials, although roughly the same age, are a very heterogeneous group – they have different hobbies, music and fashion tastes. A company that provides backpacking tours should know exactly which subgroup of Millennials their service is aimed at. Simply using a shotgun approach is not feasible – you will just end up having a list of followers which are not really into your services.

Knowing your target is difficult and may take longer than expected, but it will get you great results in the long run. Take the time to research your audience and understand their behavior, needs, passions and what they want.

If you’re interested in learning more about social media marketing, you can visit and join Kreativa’s online marketing community.