Social media marketer. Agency leader. Author. CEO/Founder of Ignite Social Media and President/Founder of Carusele.
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Times have changed, and with them so have the rules of social media. No longer can brands get away with simply pushing out content and expecting results. Instead, they need to be more strategic in their approach and innovate in order to stay ahead of the curve.
Here are eight social media “don’ts” you may not have known about:
Posting About Your Products Only
This is probably the number one social media “don’t” for brands. If your feed is full of nothing but product posts, people are going to get turned off quickly. And organic reach plunges when nobody reacts. Try to mix things up and post about other topics that are related to your industry or show innovative use cases for your product instead.
Sleeping On TikTok-Style Video
TikTok is quickly becoming one of the most popular social media platforms, with a very engaged user base. And brands that are ignoring the TikTok-style video are missing out on a big opportunity to connect with their audience—and even to be successful on other social media channels as well.
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Remember, Instagram and Facebook have Reels. YouTube has Shorts. All the algorithms are rewarding those who produce horizontal, short-form video content that is easy to consume on mobile, thanks to TikTok’s influence.
Sounding Too Salesy
The more you try to sell me, the more I’m going to try to ignore you. Essentially, people don’t want to be sold to all the time. Instead, focus on creating content that is helpful and informative. If you can do that, people will be more likely to buy from you when they’re ready. Remember, just trying to make the sale isn’t the goal. Trying to get someone interested in your product is the goal.
Posting the Same Type Of Content Every Time
Don’t post the same type of content every time. From link posts to photo posts to carousels, so many brands use the same post type all the time and it gets boring. So switch it up and change the type of content you’re posting to match the post objectively. If brands want to succeed on social media, they need to be more strategic and innovative in their approach.
Focusing On Follower Count
Gaining followers isn’t actually very important, and it’s only getting less important. In fact, brands that focus too much on follower count often miss out on other opportunities to connect with their audience.
Instead of fixating on follow count, try to focus on engagement. That means getting people to like, comment and share your posts. If you can do that, you’ll be on your way to social media success. On TikTok, content can travel far regardless of follower count, and that’s going to become increasingly true on Facebook and Instagram.
Posting Too Often
This is a social media faux pas that a lot of brands are guilty of. And it’s understandable because they want to get as much exposure for their posts as possible. But posting too often can actually be counterproductive.
There’s a difference between creating quality content and a lot of content. Instead, focus on creating quality content and posting it less often. When we do this with our clients, metrics on reach, engagement and website traffic all improve.
Taking A One-Size-Fits-All Approach To Influencer Marketing
A lot of brands make the mistake of thinking that any influencer with a large following can help them reach their goals. But that’s not always the case.
It pays for brands to actually work with an influencer who has influence. That means ensuring you pick the right influencer to work with—one that’s aligned with your goals, your target audience and your brand. Essentially, one that’s not just an ad factory. Let the influencer create content that’s going to persuade people.
Not Stopping Thumbs From Scrolling
The brands that succeed on social media are the ones that can stop people from scrolling. And there are a few ways to do that. You have to get people to stop scrolling, and reformatted ad copy or boring Happy [Insert Fun Holiday] Day posts aren’t going to do it.
The way to get people to stop scrolling is to produce interesting content that’s timely and visually appealing. So much content on social media is poorly thought out. Strategic, smart and surprising content can do very well.
The Bottom Line
Social media marketing has grown immensely over the past 15 years and brands have to keep up with ever-changing trends to remain relevant. While it’s more challenging than it used to be, brands are still being built via social media.
Avoid these eight mistakes and you’ve got a better chance of staying ahead of the curve.
Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?
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Author: Jim Tobin, Forbes Councils Member
