#1 Jumping the gun!
When it comes to social media, it is important to get out there and make sure people see you, but it is CRUCIAL to not just bust onto the scene like the Kool-Aid man coming to a thirst-quenching rescue. As a business owner, your brand, and the image that comes with it, is powerful. If you haphazardly throw together some social media content and call it all in a day’s work, not only will you end up being quickly overwhelmed, but your audience will be left confused.
The way you avoid this clusterduck of frustration is to start with a plan. Make sure you’ve taken the time to sit down with yourself and your team and decide 1) what you want to accomplish, 2) who you want to reach, and 3) how you want to reach them. (This means that if you have a business that is targeted to a 50+ age demographic, it may not be the best idea to launch a kickass Instagram account; it would be more affective to create a Facebook page.)
#2 SPAMMING (no matter the intention)
I can tell you now, with 100% certainty, no one on the internet will put up with spamming, although they may never admit to unfollowing you. “Spamming” is accomplished by posting the same content (or varied) WAY too many times a day. And now with the acceptance of the BRAND AS PERSONALITY concept, spamming doesn’t just imply frequency, it also counts if you’re just on social to sell, Sell, SELL without offering anything to your audience.
There’s a fine line on social media (every platform is different) between being noticed, and being annoying. Be careful not to creep over the line into aggravating territory by being a constant presence on your followers’ social feeds. You will notice your follower count start to drop, and once followers are gone, they’re gone for good.
#3 Assuming your target is everyone
If this is you, don’t feel bad. Most new marketers (and even some seasoned ones) at some point or another have fallen prey to thoughts of “I want everyone to like me.” It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, but it is something that should be avoided if you want to get off to a good start.
It’s is important to know who your target audience is, is because if you spend your time (and money!) trying to make every age/political/income/etc. demographic happy, you will find your message getting lost in the confusion. It would be a similar experience to standing on one side of a crowded room, trying to explain astrophysics with someone on the opposite side of the group who thinks you’re having a conversation British politics.
#4 Spreading yourself thin
This entails having multiple profiles on each social media platform your business frequents. The first problem with this is that it’s not actually allowed; Facebook for example, it is against their user policy to have more than one account. If they catch you doing it, your profiles will get shut down. The second problem with doing this, is more on the logistics side. It is time consuming enough to do it right with one account, there is no point in having multiple Facebook accounts, or Instagram accounts, because your message will lose its value, and your audience will get lost.
The best thing to do is to figure out exactly where your audience will be, and choose the social media platforms most relevant to them, and then rock it.
All in all, social media, and it’s many quirks, is a learning experience. At first you’re likely to stumble a little; that’s to be expected. In the end though, social media really isn’t hard, you just need to know where to start, and what landmines to avoid. If you avoid doing the things outlined here, you’ll be off to a great start; and if you’ve already done one or more of these, don’t worry too much – just pick yourself up, adjust, and keep on keepin’ on.