5 Social Media Marketing Mistakes People Still Make
This post was first published on October 18, 2020.
While I've written about improving digital strategy before, this article focuses specifically on Social Media Marketing.
Social Media Marketing or SMM is gathering more and more value to a point where it’s starting to become almost blatantly obvious. As written by Bella Webb in a Vogue Business article:
“They {social media managers} bridge the gaps between brands and consumers, dealing with everything from customer service to ethical complaints.”
While writing this article, I quickly realised a lot of it was based on what I’d seen on Instagram. As much as my work has revolved around that specific network, I’m fully aware that Social Media Marketing goes way beyond one network. Beyond that, different insights can be observed in different industries - mine being fashion and luxury. That being said, I believe the following points are valid for the subject in a general, healthy basic reminders kind of way!
So here they are, the 5 Basic Social Media Marketing Mistakes People Still Make:
No Credit For The Content Author
Here is what I’ve seen happen quite often on Instagram:
User X posts original content.
User Y regrams (reposts) the post by X, tagging X.
User Z regrams the post by Y but forgets to tag X even though it was X who posted the original content in the first place.
There are debates on whether a brand should ask for permission before posting or regramming someone else’s photo. While opinions vary on the subject of asking permission for reposting UGC or User Generated Content, the subject of crediting leaves little room for argumentation. If you repost, you ought to credit! Whether there are legal consequences or not. In my humble opinion, it’s the only right thing to do and unfortunately, that practice is still being ignored by some, even with the best of intentions.
2. Low Quality Photos
While posting content on a regular basis is important, image quality cannot be sacrificed. It’s an even bigger challenge considering that many brands do not have the luxury and/or budget to hire professional content creators, photographers and others. With that being said, quality cannot be sacrificed! Find another photo or just post the photo in a story instead! It can later be added to the story highlights to make it more visible to the audience. I also like to use this online image compressor to make sure my photos are suitable for the web.
3. The “One Size Fits All” Approach For All Platforms
While doing my research, I wasn’t surprised to see this argument resurface in almost every source - just see the list of links I added at the end of the post. Most brands are present on more than one platform. In between juggling content plans, color codes, quality and more, it may be tempting to copy paste your daily post from one network to another.
While I’m not saying that copy pasting content should be avoided at all costs, different platforms have different audiences and therefore different purposes - not to forget that these are also constantly evolving in time. What platforms work best for the brand? What kind of content works best on X platform and is it worthwhile for your brand and your target audience?
Which brings me to…
4. No Analysis, No Strategy & No Results
It’s a bit similar to the third point or continues it in a way. As much as good quality visual content and witty captions are an asset, basing the strategy solely on visual aesthetics can easily become short-lived success.
While Data Management is a rich work field on its own, having some kind of understanding of how to gather insight, results and reports is vital. If Google Analytics seems too daunting, keeping an eye on up to date tutorials and articles on conducting a Social Media Audit is also a viable option!
Have you analysed your data? What is it depicting vs what you want it to depict? What is the mission of the brand? How to communicate that mission via different colors and visual codes?
5. Buying Followers
Last but not least, the infamous subject of buying followers. While it might sound obvious for many, buying followers is still being talked about as an option in a business context for some. I honestly couldn’t believe it. My advice: it’s fake and you’ll get caught, just don't! Yes, business is obviously about numbers, but creating a real community and engaging with it is luckily gaining more momentum by the minute.
In today’s digitised industry where the virtue of transparency is gaining more and more importance, it’s easy to quickly find out whether someone has bought followers.
What do you think are surprisingly basic mistakes people and brands still make in Social Media Marketing? Let me know!
Here are some valuable, bite-sized articles I found while researching the subject:
https://www.dreamgrow.com/top-10-social-media-marketing-mistakes-that-you-mustnt-make/
https://www.socialbakers.com/blog/social-media-marketing-mistakes
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/338303
https://www.business.com/articles/social-media-marketing-mistakes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lilachbullock/2018/12/27/5-major-social-media-marketing-mistakes-and-how-to-overcome-them/#2d7828c8157d
https://www.dreamgrow.com/top-10-social-media-marketing-mistakes-that-you-mustnt-make/
https://www.dummies.com/business/marketing/social-media-marketing/10-common-social-media-marketing-mistakes/