Social media is an incredibly powerful tool that businesses can use for marketing. If not used right, social media sites may hurt the business. It can cost you your prospective customers and hamper your goodwill. What can you do to create a positive impression for your business on all the leading social media channels, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn? The answer to this question is simple – Avoid the typical social media mistakes that most people make. We communicated with social media experts for top businesses and portals and came up with a list of top social media mistakes that brands make and ways to avoid them.
Mistake 1 – No concrete social media policy
Some brands and companies often fail to provide their employees with a streamlined set of guidelines and rules to conduct themselves online. Your employees are a true reflection of your brand. So, when a company has clarity on expectations of how an employee is supposed to represent themselves both during and after the work hours, they can overcome all potential problems. There has to be a fallback in times when there anything goes haywire.
Mistake 2 – Having an impression that everyone is your audience
You will always fail to devise an accurate social media marketing plan if you are unaware of your audience, comments Daisy, a social media marketing manager for TAE. Several businesses simplify the audiences to an extent where the simplification only distorts the reality instead of helping you understand it.
In general, the people who are active Instagram users are between the age bracket of 18 to 34 years. It is the millennial generation. But what exactly or who exactly are these millennials? Millennials are entitled mostly to memes. So, if you follow this definition, you have ruined your campaign already.
Thus, regardless of your brand, you need to study your audience. It will enable you to know them better. See, as a business, your brand will not cater to all the millennials. So, you do not have to target all of them. The idea is to target the millennials who will be interested in buying your brand. It will enable you to direct your attention, time, and money towards precise marketing. Thus, you need to adjust the content and its tone accordingly.
Mistake 3 – Buying fake followers
Buying fake followers is against the guidelines of every social media network. However, of course, when you do not have too many followers on your page, this illicit activity may seem tempting. You will see several people and websites who advertise things like – ‘Pay $5 and instantly get 1000 followers.’ As much as this offer may lure you, please know that buying followers only takes your social media page towards failure. How? See, buying followers, be it on Instagram or Facebook, is strictly against their stipulated algorithm.
When you make a social media post, it will be shown in the feed of some audience members. Now, when more and more people comment or like on this page, the algorithm believes it is a good post. Consequently, it will show in the feed of your other subscribers too.
Let us understand this with an example.
Suppose, initially, you had 500 followers, and you shopped for 1000 fake followers. Now, you have a total of 1500 followers. Of this, ⅔ of the followers are not interested in your posts. So, naturally, they will not like/comment/share it. As a result, your original 500 followers will see your posts less. It is something that you may not have in your mind when you buy fake followers. In social media, you do not have to run after the follower count; instead, you have to chase conversions, says Vanessa, a social media head with TFTH. Buying followers will only take you away from your ultimate goal.
Mistake 4 – Not using the right tone
For someone who is casually on, social media can do anything they want with their profiles. They created the profile to tell people about their life, and know more about theirs. However, as a brand, you are subject to stricter scrutiny.
If you pick a brand voice that sounds too official, you may bore your audience. There is no bigger sin than boring people on social media. However, if you try to appeal to your audience by being too casual, you can offend them. Your funny attempts might also fail sometime. At times, what you may see as amusing, might look offensive to others.
Thus, before posting something on social media, take adequate time to figure out if the tone in your posts reflects the tone you may wish to convey.
Mistake 5 – Ignoring or deleting negative comments
As a brand, you can no longer afford to ignore or delete negative comments. It will only make things worse for you. Thus, anytime a customer says that you have wronged them, acknowledge it and apologize. As a brand, you need to maintain a professional tone and keep your cool, even if the customer’s response seems like a personal attack.
Cybil 
Meghan