A lot of business owners never make a dime with Social Media Marketing. And while that’s sad it’s also true. I was one of them for the first year and a half and I’m so grateful that changed.
But it didn’t change for long. I made $125 and then...*crickets*…Can you relate? With time and a different Social Media Marketing strategy, I managed to start earning more and more. Read this whole blog post and I’m sure you will have a brighter future – I looked in my crystal ball, that’s why I know 😉
I’m going to cover the biggest mistakes that business owners make and how to avoid them. You deserve to be successful and live that freedom lifestyle that you dream of.
So grab a pen and paper, and let’s start.
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.
1.) Not having a Social Media Marketing plan:
Without a plan you will be lost in the dark without a light…stubbing your pinky toe…*ouch* 🙂 Ok, you won’t actually get hurt but you will hurt your progress and results.
In Social Media Marketing you can’t just wing it. That’s not a good strategy. So your first step is to write down your goals (big and small). You have to know what you want and that’s going to help you make a better Social Media Marketing plan.
Then your next step is to learn about a specific strategy for the Social Media platform you will be promoting on. Yes, that means you will have to invest in some courses and mentors that will help you achieve your goals.
2.) Not having goals:
Where do you see yourself 5 years from now? This can be a really hard question for most entrepreneurs because they don’t even know what their goals are. They want a better life, but that’s not specific enough.
So write your goals with a lot of details. Write down when you want to achieve it, what color will it be (if it’s a car or house…), how many followers will you have, and so on.
If you want to go from point A to point B, but you don’t know where point B is – how will you get there? That makes sense, right?
Write in the comments below what are some of your Social Media Marketing goals.
3.) Still spamming:
That goes right back to tip #1 which we talked about in this blog post. Because business owners don’t have a Social Media Marketing Plan, they make big mistakes. But in their defense, they think it will work.
Spamming doesn’t work, you know that, but most don’t. Here are a couple of reasons why:
- their mentor told them they should promote and hardcore sell (I experienced that in the past)
- they think spamming is the right way to do Social Media Marketing
- they saw someone else doing it
- spamming is easy – people want to do the easy stuff, but that won’t work!
It’s sad to see that there are still business owners out there who teach spamming. And you can see they never invested a dime in themselves. So don’t be that person and invest in yourself.
You can learn how to 10X your results by being a good social media marketer here.
4.) Always being right:
If they think they are always right – oh boy are they in trouble. No one can be always right – except me 😉 hehe, joke. We all make mistakes because we are human.
But with that mindset of “I’m always right!” – you can’t get far. Some people are better at Social Media Marketing than you are and probably they know more than you. And that’s actually GREAT because you have someone to learn from.
With time you will become a professional (Remember my crystal ball? Yup, she told me that). And another thing that’s really important on your way to success – always listen to those who are already where you want to be.
5.) Not knowing how to sell is a bad Social Media Marketing strategy:
How many times did you hear: “You don’t need to learn
how to sell, products sell themselves.”
Don’t listen to those people. You have to learn how to sell if you want to see bigger and better results in your online business.
You can go on Udemy.com and find a course on selling (or anything else). Learn and implement the strategies. Oh, and another tip: don’t ever buy the cheapest courses (usually they are not the best).
You have to believe in your products. Can they really help your customers? Did you see the results too? If you have some stories, share them with your audience. That is one of the best sales strategies.
I mean, who doesn’t love stories, right? Write down 3-5 stories that you love and are connected to your business/products. And share at least 1 story per week. Don’t worry about repeating them, because your audience won’t mind hearing an amazing story over and over again.
6.) Fake it till you make it:
This is one of the biggest reasons why marketers fail. Don’t lie to your audience because they can smell a lie from afar. Yup, their nose is so strong!
Instead of faking it, you can use a better Social Media Marketing strategy like – sharing VALUE and your stories. This way you can inspire your audience and they get to know you better.
And you probably already know that when people get to know you better and they start trusting you, your sales will increase.
Stand out of the crowd and be who you are because you are good enough! Don’t let that small voice in your head tell you otherwise.
7.) Not checking their analytics:
I know that’s the most boring part – I feel you. I don’t have a ton of fun with it either. But the rewards of checking the analytics can be amazing. When you see what doesn’t work, you stop doing it.
You will stop wasting your time and instead focus on the things that work great for the growth of your business. That’s why every Social Media platform provides you with analytics.
I usually check analytics once per week to see if I’m going in the right direction. But once or twice per month can work great too. Grab a cup of coffee, sit down for an hour or two, and analyze the bejesus out of your results 🙂
8.) Not being consistent with their Social Media posts:
Let’s be honest here – we all made this mistake. I’ll go first and admit it *Hey, I’m Petra and I wasn’t consistent with posting on Social Media*
This is one of the worst mistakes any entrepreneur can make. Let’s analyze some of the leaders starting with Gary Vee. Is he consistent? Oh yes, he sure is. That man is a rockstar when it comes down to consistency. He’s already successful but keeps on producing new content daily.
Carrie Green from the Female Entrepreneur Association – that boss babe is amazing when it comes down to consistency. I check her Facebook page almost daily. There is always some inspiration and lots of value *You go, girl!*
Rachel Ngom (She’s Making an Impact) – she’s always posting on her Facebook Page. That’s why she built a big empire and now she’s helping thousands of female entrepreneurs around the globe. Consistency is the key to success!
Do you see the pattern? Consistency will help you achieve your goals. So how can you start being consistent with your posts? Well, with a Social Media content calendar of course. You can learn how to create one yourself or you can grab my 7+ Years of Social Media Content Ideas which has 3 years of content already planned out for you.
RELATED POST: 120 Killer Social Media Content Ideas Your Audience Will Love
9.) Using the same content format:
If you’re using only text posts, then your audience is probably getting bored. You have to spice it up. Use videos, photos, audio, share value, something funny, and let’s not forget – SELFIES.
Selfies will bring more attention to you and your engagement will spike up. Who wouldn’t love to see that cute face of yours? Show yourself, and your lifestyle and bring people on an adventure.
Conclusion:
We are all on different levels in Social Media Marketing, but that doesn’t mean you can’t become a professional. You can learn everything.
Before you start marketing your products, sit down and write all your goals on a piece of paper. Then create your own Social Media Marketing strategy and stick to it.
Stop spamming and instead build meaningful relationships. You will get raving fans who will turn into customers in no time. Dazzle them with your kind heart.
To stay consistent make a Social Media content calendar or just get my Content Bundle here. Don’t complicate and make everything simple. That’s always better.
So now we come to the end of this blog post. And I was wondering, what Social Media Marketing mistakes did you make in the past? Let me know in the comments below!
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. 
Thank you so much, I definitely need this! I just got my blog to the point where I consider it ready for people to see–but I have no idea what to do next! There’s so much to learn about blogging and I appreciate how you’ve broken it down so there’s a roadmap to follow.
I’m glad this helped you. Let me know if you have any other questions and I can cover them in my blog post. Also you can come join us in our FREE Coaching Group and I’ll make sure to help you. We don’t bite 😉 so join here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BigIncomeParadise/
These tips are timely as I’m combining my blog calendar and social media content plan. Thank you for sharing.
Hey Angie! I’m very happy to see you love the blog post.
Hi Petra, I am a social media marketer and as per my knowledge, social media is good for branding, and soft marketing and not hardcore selling/marketing, hence it become difficult for people to make money through social media, unless they are already pretty famous.
What do you say?
Hey Shivam! Social media is amazing for marketing and selling. You can build authority and trust, that’s when people buy from you. And about hardcore selling – it’s never good to hardcore sell. People don’t like being sold to, so that’s a bad strategy to do anywhere. Was that helpful?
Hi Petra, love this blog post. By now I have good experience in Social Media. As per my experience, the biggest culprit in social media failure is inconsistency. True?
Hey Suraj. Yes, inconsistency is a big reason why people fail in Social Media (as I said in my post).
I think its more like second nature or just the energy of a newcomer.
They tend to spam and post alot of things at once wanting to have those many followers at once .
Yes, that’s also true. But I’ve seen people are actually teaching them these “techniques” – like “just post 3 times per day and you’ll make money” – which we both know there’s more to that 😉