Social Media Advertising: Common Mistakes

Not having a social media marketing plan. 

This may seem like an obvious thing to do, yet many fail to post on social media without any real plan. Now this doesn’t have to be an ‘all singing, all dancing’ 5 year road map, but simply thinking 1-3 months in advance can buy you and your business the time to improve the content and quality you are outputting, moving you from a reactive profile, to a proactive one. We suggest outlining your goals, how you will measure success and any resources required to achieve this as part of your initial planning.

Not defining your target audience. 

Making the assumption that everyone is your potential customer can be a big hindrance to your brand's growth. Ensuring you have a predefined idea of your potential customer will prevent your campaigns from becoming too broad and wasting precious campaign budget. But don’t go too far the other way, it’s easy for new brands to narrow their expected market so far that they end up excluding viable potential customers which can slow their growth.

Failing to engage in conversations

Social channels are not just a platform for one-sided conversations. Try to take time to create content that people want to engage with and proactively engage with others people's content. This will build rapport with your online community and increase your overall visibility. 

Not tracking analytics

Your strategy should be constantly updated and improved upon. Insights into what you’ve done in the past and the results you achieved from it will not only allow you to analyse and compare your ongoing performance, but it will help you plan for the future too. Find a good analytics tool and assess your performance.

Treating all social media platforms the same

It may seem obvious, but each social media platform is unique, with a different demographic and communication style to suit each one. You must learn the language of each platform so that you can easily and effectively communicate with their users. When looking at digital strategy with a client, we analyse the effectiveness of each channel to assess its suitability for the specific brand or product so time isn’t wasted talking in the wrong area, ensuring efficient growth.