5 Social Media Mistakes Done By Marketers

Last week, I shared with you, my biggest mistakes in podcasting. If you have missed that one, don’t worry — here’s the link for you to read it: Mistakes I’ve Done In Podcasting That Lead To Failures
This week, I am bringing you another part of my mistakes; both as an entrepreneur and social media marketer. While I certainly hope not many of you are doing the same mistakes as mine, trust me… this is one post you do not want to miss.
Regardless if you are a social media marketer or a business owner trying to get involved in social media, this post is definitely for you.
Remember to share this with your friends and colleagues if you find it useful.
Let’s dive in, shall we?
5 Social Media Mistakes Done By Marketers
 

5 Social Media Mistakes Done By Marketers

 

Mistake #1: Jumping into social media without a proper plan

How many of you does this? Raise your hands, please!
Well, you don’t have to be afraid to admit as you are not the only one. Social media has long been a huge de-factor in most business success.
But social media is also one of the biggest downfalls for many. Let’s take this for a scenario:

  • You have a great plan in mind
  • You plan out (nearly) everything
  • Your marketing plan consists of social media marketing
  • You spend money on Facebook ads
  • You wait for customers to purchase your products

Does the above sound familiar to you? For starters, the above works if you already have a brand which is known by others.
If you are a startup, make no mistake; the above will not work!
Most of the time, we consider social media as an easy ticket to success when it isn’t. Social media can be used to compliment your existing plan but it certainly shouldn’t be your only plan.
 

Mistake #2: Paid advertisements

Another huge myth that most people are considering as the “truth”.
Paid advertisement is good if you do it right. Most of the time, we are wrong. Well, that’s why so many people (including me) failed in paid advertisements and wasted thousands of dollars.
Apart from that, we do not do enough survey on paid advertisements.
For example, we are not focusing (laser targeting) our potential audience. Instead, we are often advertising to anyone hoping to grab some attention.
When it comes to paid advertisements, we need to aim the right audience. The best part?
Most paid advertising tools allow us to focus on specific niches such as:

  • Gender
  • Location
  • Interest
  • Household income
  • Education level
  • Marital status
  • Career

Well, you may debate that you did focus on the specific audience but here’s a question for you, “How much is your focus?”
Always remember that you need to be extremely laser focus in paid advertisements to ensure that you are getting the best results.
 

Mistakes #3: You can manage everything … alone

Ask any social media manager out there. Eight hours of job a day isn’t enough especially when they are managing dozens of social media accounts.
We are all human and there is absolutely no way you can manage everything alone. Well, you can, to be honest. When you manage everything by yourself, you are going to lose out because you simply aren’t doing a good job.
Imagine this:

  • Guy A handles 10 social media accounts at one time
  • Guy B handles 2 social media accounts at one time

Logically speaking, Guy B is going to perform a better job because he has more time. Time is valuable and in social media, it can be used for analytics and many others.
At times, you need to consider if outsourcing the job or using social media tools is going to help you.
Don’t worry about cost. You can get a pretty decent social media tool like Hootsuite for only $10 a month. Alternatively, you can hire dedicated persons to manage your daily social media tasks for you and pay them monthly.
Either way, you are going to free up a lot of your time.
 

Mistake #4: Getting customers is your only goal

Most business owners do this wrong. Social media is not (entirely) getting customers.
As a matter of fact, social media is the place for you to create a relationship with your current customers or potential ones.
When you start generating customers through social media with zero interactions, you are going to lose them one day.
Customers are only there to support you when you are there for them. In social media, you need to spend the time to engage with them because when they resonate with you (or your brand), they are going to stay with you for a long, long time!
As a marketer, always take the opportunity to grow your customer fan-base on social media. This can be done by:

  • Finding more customers on social media
  • Engage with them so that they feel belonging

 

Mistakes #5: Social media marketing is short term goal

Social media marketing is like a marriage. It is a commitment; a long one indeed.
One of the biggest mistakes I see many social media marketers (including myself) do is considering social media marketing as a short term goal.
Social media marketing is not a one-off marketing. As a matter of fact, social media marketing should be integrated into your long term goal!
Let’s take this scenario for an example:

Then, you come down to two choices:

  1. Start engaging with them and try to resonate with them
  2. Leave them as where they are and hope that they will purchase your products

When social media marketing is your short term goal, you will waste whatever time and effort you spend in that segment.
Your ultimate goal should be converting these social media followers into your loyal customers and ensuring that they do ‘soft marketing’ for you.
Do not get demotivated if they don’t buy anything from you. You can still leverage them by ensuring that they constantly share your products, provide you with feedbacks and even opinions to improve your products.
Long story short, social media goes a long way and should not be your only short term strategy.
 

Over to you

I hope you find this article useful and tell me what you think about this! Leave a comment below and let’s discuss further.
 
See also: Top 5 Mistakes That Are Hurting Your Twitter Conversion Rates