Yes, your brand should certainly be on social media. But being on social media doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing it right. Media À La Carte has scoured our socials and client directory to share the top 5 social media mistakes we see brands make and how YOU can avoid them.
Inconsistent Posting
Some brands tend to post irregularly. This makes it hard to build a consistent presence and engage an audience. It’ll lead to reduced visibility due to platform algorithms. Additionally, you’ll lose engagement opportunities when you disappear for long periods of time. Lastly, it’s harder to build a loyal community without consistent interaction.
To avoid this, create a content calendar and schedule posts consistently using tools like Buffer or Hootsuite. Maintain a balance between frequent posts and quality content. Additionally, utilize batch creation - set aside time to create multiple pieces of content in one go and schedule them to avoid last-minute scrambling. **The Content Calendar Club is a great way to kick-start a consistent and impactful posting schedule.
Ignoring engagement
Brands often focus only on broadcasting their messages and fail to interact with their followers. This makes followers feel unimportant and neglected. What’s more, lower engagement signals to the platform’s algorithm that your content isn’t relevant, leading to less exposure. And you’ll miss opportunities to build stronger relationships with your audience.
Remember, social media is social - it’s a two-way street. It’s important that you actively respond to comments, DMs, and mentions. Use polls, questions, and quizzes in your Instagram Stories to encourage interaction. Create a community by hosting live Q&A sessions, responding to comments in real-time, and encouraging user-generated content. What matters is that you show your followers that you value their input.
Lack of Clear Strategy
Brands often post random content with clear objectives, resulting in unfocused messaging. Lack of strategy makes your brand look scattered and you miss the opportunity to convert followers into loyal customers because you lack purpose. As a result, time and resources are wasted on content that doesn’t drive desired outcomes.
Instead, develop a clear social media strategy with defined SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound), target audience (their pain points, preferences, and needs), and key performance indicators (KPIs). Align content with brand values and audience interests. Continuously tweak your approach based on performance data (see #5).
Over-Promotion
Brands sometimes only promote their products or services, leading to follower fatigue. Followers may unfollow or disengage because they’re tired of always being sold to. Promotional overload leads to diminished trust and credibility.
To fix this, follow the 80/20 rule - 80% of your content should provide value, entertainment, or information, while only 20% should be promotional. Mix it up with behind-the-scenes content, industry news, or user-generated posts.
Ignoring Analytics
Brands don’t always track performance, thereby missing out on opportunities to optimize their strategy. You may keep posting content that doesn’t resonate, wasting time and resources. You also miss opportunities to adjust your strategy for better reach, engagement, or conversions.
So, be sure to regularly check platform analytics to see what content resonates best with your audience. Create A/B tests (ex. carousel posts vs. video posts) or post and different times to see what resonates best with your audience. Adjust your strategy based on metrics like engagement rates, reach, and conversions. We recommend creating weekly or monthly reports to track trends and measure progress toward your goals.
These suggestions aren’t just ‘trends’ that come and go, but tried and true ways to build a strong social media foundation and continue to grow a loyal follower base. For more support cultivating the social media strategy of your dreams, reach out to Media À La Carte!
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