Mistakes happen, unfortunately. That is a nearly unavoidable part of life. However, there are steps we can take to avoid making certain mistakes… especially in social media marketing. It offers huge benefits to brands and is an extremely advantageous tool to add to any wider marketing strategy. In today’s world, if your business isn’t on social media in some capacity, you’re already two steps behind your competitors.

That being said, if not done correctly, social media marketing can have a negative impact on a brand. There are a number of common mistakes that many brands make on social media that will be hampering their social media strategy. Below are five of the most common social media mistakes that marketers must avoid.

1. Blanket sharing on each platform

Treating each social media platform in the same way is a common mistake that many brands will make. Every social media platform has its own set of guidelines that need to be considered when posting, additionally, each algorithm is unique to each platform. As a result sharing the exact same post on all social networks is setting you up for failure.

We understand that time and resources can be limited, and as a result, sharing the same post on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc can save a lot of time. However this means each platform isn’t being used to its full potential. For example, on Twitter, there is a character limit so posts need to be short and straight to the point. Whereas on LinkedIn you have more to work with and can be more descriptive in your posts.

2. Incomplete profiles

In my opinion, this is one of the worst things a brand can do on social media. Taking the time to fill out all the relevant information on your page shows potential customers that you are willing to put in time and effort, and you’re taking social media seriously.

I draw from personal experience: If I come across a social media account that is only half complete, I’ll be clicking off it very quickly. A lot of potential customers will use social media as a way to get in touch with a brand, and if your account doesn’t provide that kind of basic information you’re going to lose these customers.

One of the best ways to think about social media is an extension of your website. Imagine going onto a brand’s site to find it has been half completed and is missing information. What image does that portray?

3. Neglecting the importance of engagement

A lot of brands will think that simply posting on social media is enough, but it isn’t. Success on social media is all about engaging and being active on the platform. The more active an account is, and the more they are engaging with others, the more likely their posts will perform well.

In addition to impacting engagement, staying active on social media is important for building a relationship with your audience. If your customers need a quick response it’s common for them to take to social media to get in touch with a brand. Therefore, it’s good practice to ensure you are staying on top of comments and messages, and to try to reply as quickly as possible. This can be difficult as your accounts and following grow, but can be easily maintained using a social media management tool.

It’s called social media for a reason, the idea is to be social. Think of these channels as a place to build relationships with your customers, as opposed to a pure sales platform.

4. Only sharing internal content

Linking back to the previous point, a common mistake a lot of social media marketers will make is to solely share their own content. While of course, it’s important to drive users back to your site, if you want to grow your account you need to be sharing external content.

The main benefit of this is when you are sharing someone’s content it gives you the opportunity to tag them in the post. Hopefully, they will then see they have been tagged and potentially engage with the post by liking, sharing, retweeting, etc. Their audience will then see they have engaged with the post, further increasing its reach.

5. Lack of planning

This is potentially the most common social media marketers’ mistake. It can be easy to overlook the importance of planning and think you can just post an update as and when. Poor planning can make social media marketing a huge waste of time and money.

Before starting a social media campaign it’s important to set goals, work out a budget, and have a plan of action for how to achieve these goals. Social media marketing should be approached in the same way as any other marketing campaign and requires adequate planning to understand how success will be measured and the resources required to reach your goals.

These are just a few of the common mistakes many marketers will make when using social media. Ultimately, a social media marketing campaign is unique to each brand and should be tailored around the goals they have laid out.