With new things happening in the social media industry every day, it can be hard to keep up with the rights and wrongs of promoting your brand online. In order to get the best results with your advertising in 2021, you must always be in tune with your consumers’ digital behavior, as well as how social media is being used right now. These are some of the biggest mistakes that a brand can make when it comes to its social media strategy.

1. Not using social listening.

Social listening is a powerful tool that allows you to monitor what conversations are happening online about your company’s industry, competition, or brand. A great social media strategy starts with a foundation of understanding your brand’s place within these conversations. Using data from social listening can empower your brand to make informed, logical decisions when planning every move on social. It can also help inform your strategy when trying to determine the messaging for a campaign.

2. Posting the wrong content for your target audience.

Similar to social listening, keeping an eye on your demographic for each platform in conjunction with how you’re meeting your brand’s goals is crucial for social success. Just because something fits the message of the campaign, doesn’t necessarily mean your Instagram followers will respond or engage with it. You have to be open-minded to the fact that your audience may differ across media platforms.

3. Focusing on the wrong KPIs.

Not only focusing on the wrong KPIs but being unrealistic about meeting goals on social. Your brand should be keeping track of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that help to fulfill your overall business objectives. For example, if you’re looking at growing your visibility or trying to increase brand awareness, you might focus on your numbers for Reach (total unique people reached) and Impressions (total number of views).

4. Posting too much or too little.

Quality outperforms quantity. Posting 20x per day on Instagram may have been okay in 2011, but social media has evolved quite a bit since then. If you’re posting too frequently, you could end up competing with your own posts. This could result in a lower engagement rate and less visibility on Instagram. Or, worse, you could get shadowbanned on Instagram for spam-like behavior. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, posting only once per month or once every few months can also have a severe impact on your social visibility. The more you can spend time utilizing each platform to most of its best practices, the more you’ll be rewarded by the algorithm.

It also helps to spend time engaging with other people and utilizing the features that are built into each platform, which brings me to my next point.  

5. Not utilizing in-app functionality.

Every platform has its own unique algorithm, and with it, its own features and functionalities. For example, Pinterest just came out with “Story Pins” as a spin-off of Instagram Stories. Instagram created Instagram Reels in 2020 to keep up with the growing popularity of a rival platform, TikTok.

In order to be rewarded by the algorithm, it’s recommended to use every available feature within each app. I know that may seem out of reach given it feels like there’s always some new feature popping up. However, it’s important to pivot with these platforms to stay ahead of the competition in your social strategy. Sometimes waiting too late to try the “new thing” can be a big mistake.

6. Only self promoting.

There’s a great book by Gary Vaynerchuck called Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook in which Vaynerchuck discusses how to tell your story on social media when there’s so much other content out there. The principle behind “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook” in essence focuses on how you can provide your audience with value with “Jabs,” and then every once in a while, promoting your brand with the “Right Hook.”

Sometimes it’s easy for brands to look at social as simply another platform to advertise their services or products. But, you have to remember, it’s called social media for a reason. With so many other brands out there running ads and posting on social, you have to look at social as a way to differentiate yourself. Spend more time engaging directly with your audience. Produce fun, branded content that isn’t as much of a direct sale. It’s sure to pay off in the long run!

Take Control of Your Social Presence

At Creative Energy, we’re knowledgeable about the ins and outs of social media and have been helping brands master their digital presence for years. Easily avoid these common mistakes, and find out how you can make the most of your advertising strategy this year. Contact us to see how it’s done!