Growing your business can be tough but it can become a nightmare if you’re making these Social Media mistakes. And the longer you do them, the more you hurt your business and personal brand.
We all made many mistakes on Social Media. Heck, I made a ton of them and it drove me crazy. I don’t want this to happen to you, that’s why I made this blog post.
Inside you will learn about big Social Media mistakes and how to fix them before it’s too late. Some will be obvious, but others not so much. Read everything from start to finish and take notes.
This post includes affiliate links to products I love and recommend, meaning I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information.
BIG SOCIAL MEDIA MISTAKES
We are going to talk about the 15 biggest Social Media mistakes that most entrepreneurs and digital business owners are making daily.
You deserve to know and learn about these mistakes and how to avoid them. So if you’re a pen-and-paper person (like me), then I suggest you write all the tips and strategies that I will share with you. Ready? Ok, let’s start.
1.) Not having a Social Media strategy:
You probably already know that you need a strategy for every area of business. And the same goes for Social Media. That’s where most digital business owners fail.
They might learn a strategy, but never write it down. And here’s the thing – we all have different audiences, so if a specific strategy works for someone, it might not work for you.
That’s why you must learn the Social Media strategy, write it down, test it out, and then tweak it. Make it more personal to you, your brand, and your audience.
2.) Ignoring your followers:
I see so many people who make this huge mistake. Recently I invested in a mindset course and I joined their Facebook group. Guess what happened there.
People were asking questions, but the owner of the group never responded. She did make some posts but that was all.
Imagine how it feels when people don’t get the answer. No one likes that, and the same goes for your followers. That’s why you should sit down (daily) and respond to all the comments and messages. Yes, it will take some time, but it will pay off in the long run.
3.) Not being patient:
This is a big mistake that most digital business owners do. Even though we know success won’t happen overnight, we still expect it. That’s because we never practice patience.
You might think that this is not a huge mistake – especially not a Social Media mistake. However, I’ll share with you why it actually is.
Let’s say you learn a new Social Media strategy. You implement it immediately and expect it to work the very first week. But at the end of the week, you get disappointed by the no results.
You might give the strategy another try. Yet you still have no results in the first month. Ugh! That’s frustrating! And then you just say it doesn’t work and move on.
Here’s the thing – you might have a goldmine of a strategy that just needs a bit more time and it would work like magic. But because you’re not patient, you lose a chance to grow your business and you start all over again.
Learn about how to become more patient and practice every day.
4.) No Social Media content goals:
Having content goals will help you know exactly WHAT to write and HOW to write it. Without clear goals, you will only try to wing it.
Your Social Media content won’t make much sense to your followers. And if they will feel confused, they will leave. It’s pretty simple to create content goals. Let’s look at the steps you need to take:
- Think about what your followers are struggling with most
- Before you start writing the content, think about what actions you want your followers to take. Do you want them to buy a product, engage in the post, share it, or subscribe to your email list?
- You can have up to 3 goals per content (I usually stick to 1-2). Just make sure ‘selling’ is not always your goal. No one likes a salesy business owner.
5.) Creating salesy Social Media posts:
I’m sure you have come across a salesy post at least once by now. Just by checking it out, you know the person only wanted to make money. There was no value, no story, no nothing.
That’s a catastrophe for branding! But I’m sure you already know that. So how can you create powerful content that will attract super-fans and hungry buyers?
There are some content rules you need to follow. The more obvious ones are planning and having goals. But that won’t be enough. If you don’t want to sound salesy, then create emotional posts that will hook your followers.
Another important step you should take seriously is – to know your audience. What are they struggling with? How does it make them feel? The more you know, the better your Social Media posts will be.
Do thorough research. Use Google to find the burning questions people have about different topics in your niche. You can also check out Facebook groups, Answer The Public website, Quora, your competitor’s Facebook page & blog, and forums.
When you find the questions, use them in your posts. Then craft your story filled with emotions. Talk about your experiences, and feelings (bad and good). And always end the post on a positive note.
If you’re still unsure how to create captivating and scroll-stopping content that sells, then grab my Content marketing and storytelling strategies workbook.
6.) Overthinking is one of the biggest Social Media mistakes:
This mistake can get you in trouble. I speak from my own experience. The problem is when you start overthinking, you will talk yourself out of whatever you were planning on doing.
Have you ever wanted to do a Facebook live, but got scared? You’re not alone – we all overthink. That is a huge problem because we usually don’t do the Facebook live (or anything else) that will help us grow our business.
Next time you catch yourself doing this, just take a deep breath and do it anyway. It doesn’t matter what others think or say – it’s about achieving your goals. And you’ll only do that if you consistently take imperfect action.
7.) Focusing on making sales instead of providing value:
I see many digital business owners who make this mistake. They are always promoting their products but never give any value.
I’ll be real with you – you will gain followers and fans for life only if your Social Media content will provide value. Something that will help your audience achieve their goals.
You don’t need to do everything for free. Find a healthy balance between sharing some funny and engaging posts, value, and promotional content.
Finding a good balance can be challenging. That’s why you need to create a Social Media content calendar. It will help you stay organized and your content will always be mixed up. So you won’t over-promote your product.
If you’re too busy and don’t have the time to create a content calendar, then grab my 7+ Years of Social Media Content Ideas where you’ll get 3 content calendars, a ton of post ideas, 796 graphic templates, and so much more!
8.) Not investing in Social Media knowledge:
Yikes! That’s another one of those enormous Social Media mistakes. Without the proper knowledge, you would be running in circles, making mistakes, and never achieving much. A waste of time, don’t you think?
I’m sure you don’t want to spend hours on Social Media just to see little to no results. That’s why you should learn at least once per week.
You can read my blog posts, take notes, and implement what you learned. You can also check out my store and purchase courses or products you love.
I know it’s scary to invest, but remember, you can’t run your business for free. I’ve invested well over $30,000 in different courses, and it was the best decision ever!
Knowledge always costs some money. But it makes it easier for you because you don’t need to reinvent the wheel and figure out everything on your own.
9.) Using all Social Media platforms without tools:
If you have a bunch of time on your hands, then you might manage all platforms without using tools. But you are probably a super busy business owner with a couple of kids always running around.
That’s when you have to accept you need help – we all do. No one wants to sit in front of the laptop all day long. I’ve put together a list of over 40+ helpful tools that will save you a lot of time and money.
SCHEDULING FACEBOOK POSTS:
If you want to schedule your posts a couple of days, weeks, or months ahead, you can do that on your Facebook page. Here’s a short video where I show you how to do that:
SCHEDULING INSTAGRAM POSTS:
You can schedule your Instagram posts through Facebook. It’s a huge time saver and it’s free.
In the video below you will see the step-by-step process. It’s easy so anyone can do it.
Different schedulers you can use:
10.) Posting at the wrong time:
Posting your content when most of your followers are offline is not a good strategy. Who is going to engage with you if they are not there to see your post? That’s why so many digital business owners hear crickets.
Analytics are not there just because someone made a mistake while creating a Social Media platform. You should check your analytics once per week or every time you schedule your posts.
Inside that free tool (analytics) you will see when most of your followers are online and engaging with your content. So next time you want to post your content – do it at the right time.
THE BEST TIME TO POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Below you’ll find the best days and times to post on Social Media platforms. But don’t just rely on the information below.
You should still check your analytics because we all have a different audience which means, they might be online at a different time.
Here’s an infographic that will show you the best and worst day & time to post on each Social Media platform (information from SproutSocial):
11.) Another one of the big Social Media mistakes is stealing content:
You can get in big trouble for that! Stealing posts is not ethical and people will call you out. That will hurt your personal brand a lot! You need to find your voice and express yourself. That makes you unique.
Your followers will quickly notice there is something weird with your content. It might include too many emojis or words that you usually don’t use.
You don’t want to hurt your business, right? But what can you do to quickly write a catchy post? Here are some of the best tips that helped me:
- Learn about your niche (read blog posts, watch videos…) – the more you know, the more you can share. This will help you create valuable posts that will help your audience
- Share your own experiences – talking about your stories is one of the most powerful marketing strategies you can do. Your followers will be able to relate with you more and that builds trust.
- Write down all the ideas – have your notebook close to you. When you get an idea for a post, write it down so you won’t forget. Having a ton of ideas in a notebook will help you save time.
- Share other people’s posts – notice how I said SHARE and not copy & paste. You have to give credit to the people who created the post. Don’t think that your followers will leave you for the person whose post you’re sharing. When you’re sharing value – people stay with you!
12.) Posting too much:
Ok, this one is tricky because some people say you should post 10 times per day while others say to post only once. If you are confused – I get it because I was too.
Here’s what I figured out. When I post 1-3 times per day on my Facebook page, I get a decent reach. But if I post more than that, the reach drops.
It was weird because I learned from some great entrepreneurs that we should post at least 5 times per day. But hey, your analytics will show you what’s best for your business.
Those entrepreneurs have a larger following so it’s possible that Facebook (or any other platform) is treating their account differently than yours.
You need to figure out what works for YOUR FOLLOWERS, YOUR BUSINESS, and YOU. Start experimenting and post 5 times per day for a week. Then check your analytics.
If you see bad results, then post less – maybe 3 times per day. Again do that for a week and check the analytics.
13.) Not being organized:
It can be super challenging to stay organized. There are a ton of things to do on your Social Media and that’s why planning ahead is a must.
However, you wouldn’t believe how many digital business owners are just winging it. And I’ll be honest with you – I was one of them.
I struggled for years before I finally started planning my content and seeing good results.
Being organized with your Social Media is a huge part of success. It’s because you know which step to take next. Isn’t it easier if you have a social media marketing plan?
Start planning everything. The daily tasks will help you stay on track and I’m sure you will get more done.
14.) Using the same content format:
That can be very boring for your followers. No one wants to see only posts with text. Some people love watching videos, while others love to read.
Your followers are different so if you want to engage with all of them, you need to create different content formats. Let’s look at some of the format ideas below.
CONTENT FORMAT IDEAS:
- Text post (with or without emojis)
- Post with an image
- Social Media poll questions
- Post with a link to a blog
- Post with a link to a freebie
- Live video
- Recorded video
- Just an image
- Selfie with your story
- Webinars
- Memes
- Podcasts
- Infographics
- GIFs
You might also like to read the Top 7 Types Of Social Media Content You Need In Business
15.) Not building relationships:
This is the BIGGEST Social Media mistake of all. And if you fail at this one, you will never grow your business. So you should take this part seriously.
You won’t find any shortcuts in relationship building and it will take some time. That’s why it sometimes takes years to grow a successful business. But like I said, it would take you forever if you do this step wrong.
Be genuinely interested in your followers. Also, share your emotional stories because your audience is probably going through something similar.
But don’t stop there. You can also share their successes. Show them how proud you are that they achieved a goal (big or small). That will make a strong bond between you and your followers.
You don’t need to be super successful to get fans for life. All you have to do is connect with them on a deeper level and show them that you care.
Conclusion:
It’s easy to make these Social Media mistakes, especially if you’re new to online business. Even if you’re not, that can still happen and it can destroy your personal brand.
No one likes to waste hours on Social Media just to get results once in a while. You’re running a business and want results as fast as possible, right? So that’s why you should never make these 15 Social Media mistakes that we covered above.
Remember, it’s important to learn what to do, but it’s also important to know what NOT to do on Social Media.
And hey, before you go, I would like to ask if you can share this with others and help them grow their business. I’ll be forever grateful 💜
Petra Šranc (CEO of Big Income Paradise) is passionate about teaching female entrepreneurs how to do Social Media Marketing to grow their business online. She also focuses on teaching Social Media content tactics to skyrocket traffic, leads, and sales.