Social media is everywhere, and the majority of us use it to some degree. Therefore, it is essential that you, as a business, make sure that your social media posts are as effective as possible. There are some mistakes that I see over and over again that really make me wonder if the company understands how each of the social media platforms work. Facebook and LinkedIn have different audiences; Twitter/X is very different to Instagram; and TikTok is something else altogether!
So, here are some of my pet peeves when it comes to errors on social media, and how you can avoid making them...
- Trying to do it all; you do not need to be on every social platform. It's easy to think that you must be on all of them in order to reach a bigger audience, but you will only make life harder for yourself by trying to post on all of them effectively. Choose the platforms you think will work best for your company and stick to them, at least until you have found your feet with your business.
- Posting inconsistently; before you even begin posting online, establish a social media plan. Ensuring you post regularly and consistently will not only showcase your business' skills, but it will also demonstrate your reliability.
- Not tailoring the content accordingly; if you are sharing a video on Facebook or Instagram, it would ideally be in a different format/layout when shared on YouTube. Or, consider your audience on each platform and tailor your wording to be more effective. For example, you could sound more professional on LinkedIn and more casual on Instagram.
- (following on from the point above) Posting the same content across each platform; whilst the content could emanate the same message, it should not be identical or be posted at the same time on each platform.
- Not having a Call To Action; CTAs are so important, as they're reminding your potential client about what they need to do next after viewing your post - which is usually contacting you!
- Using poor-quality images; you don't need really high-quality images for social media, but they do need to be good enough quality, as they are representing your business, and could potentially be seen by a large number of people.
- Not engaging online; it is important for businesses to respond to comments and messages online, as well as commenting on other businesses' posts. This will, in turn, increase your awareness and potentially engagement, as other people will be seeing your comments.
- Poor, or non-existent branding; not having proper branding on your socials is so important, as your branding can instantly show your audience who you are. Having a good, clear logo makes you look so much more professional and authentic as a business. It also demonstrates that you take your business seriously, as you have gone to the trouble of designing your branding and creating a proper profile.
And finally...
- Putting links in an Instagram post; this one seriously bugs me, so I'm going to make it as clear as I can... links DO NOT WORK in Instagram. Don't bother putting a link in any text if it's not clickable; it's a waste of text space and, to be honest, it just looks unprofessional. Use your bio to have all your relevant links in, and refer your audience to your bio in the caption.
What other social media mistakes do you think I missed? Is there something that businesses do on social media that particularly annoys you? Let me know by sending me a message.
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