5 Mistakes To Avoid When Using Social Media

Often when clients come to us, they hate social media and are completely frustrated that they seem to be spending ALL their time on Instagram and yet it doesn't appear to be having any impact on their bottom line.

We love working with entrepreneurs, small and medium businesses and not for profits, to help their social media sparkle.  Often by working with our clients to make just a few tweaks, they are able to see a huge impact on their social media presence and results. 

These are the TOP 5 mistakes we regularly see people making on their Instagram accounts.  But if you are guilty of making any of these mistakes, we have also suggested some small changes you can make to see some results.

No Strategy

You have set up for Instagram profile and you have started posting.  All is going well for a couple of weeks and then you run out of ideas of what to post.  As a small business owner you’ve already got a million and one things on your plate and now you have the extra problem of running your Instagram account but you have no idea what you should be doing.

You need a well thought out Social Media Strategy.  Have you thought about what you want to achieve with your social media platforms?  Have you mapped out your ideal client?  Based on who your ideal customer is, do you have your content pillars in place? Do you know what and when to post? What about your hashtags?  What are your KPIs?  What are you measuring when you look at your insights?  A robust social media strategy will answer all these problems!

** We cover all of this in our Social Media Strategy Course so join us for 4 weeks and get your Strategy sussed – details here **

Not Engaging

If you are honest with yourself, how much time do you actually spend on Instagram engaging with others?  Do you “post and ghost”?  You know, when you post on your social media channel and then… disappear. ⁠

When you share your post, hang around and interact with those who have liked your post or commented on it. If you use a scheduling tool, make sure you log on to your social media platform when the post goes lives, so you can engage.

The whole idea of being on social media is to be SOCIAL.  Social media is about building relationships with your customers.  Find your people and connect with them.⁠  Add value to their lives.⁠  Let them know how you can help them.⁠  Slowly  you will build a community of followers who will become your biggest cheerleaders.⁠  You can’t do that without engaging.

Lack of Consistency

Do you post regularly on social media?  Nothing looks worse than a business account that is not updated regularly.   Have they gone out of business?  

It doesn’t need to be updated daily.  How often you post is up to you, but make sure it is regularly. 

Having a plan and a scheduling tool will help with this.  We use Later and love it but other scheduling tools are available.

Not Putting Your Face Out There

I know we really harp on about it but having a face behind the brand not only gives you more personality and approachability but it generates trust and creates a real connection with your audience on social media.⁠  People love to put a face to a name and it makes your business more accessible.  It is an opportunity to show our personality and it might just give you the edge over your competitors. 

Think about organising a brand photo shoot. If that isn’t possible right now, try talking to camera and putting the video up on Stories. 

Not selling

One bugbear is seeing a business post about their own products all the time.  The business is just taking about themselves and selling, selling, selling.  It is off putting and feels like you are at a cocktail party with someone who only talks about themselves…  This type of business doesn’t have a content pillar plan – see my first point.

But we also see the mistake at the other end of the spectrum: the business that forgets to sell.  Your followers are there for a reason, and if you don’t make it very clear how they can buy from you, you won’t get the sales.

We always suggest going with an 80:20 rule.  For every four posts that you add value, entertain and educate your followers, you should do a sales post.

When you do put together your sales posts, instead of just talking about your products and their features, focus on how your products will help and transform those who buy it. Focus on the benefit to your customer and how they will feel after they've used your product.

Are you guilty of any of these misdemeanours?

If you want to talk through any of these points or about how our Social Media Strategy Course could change your entire approach to Instagram and make your life a hell of a lot easier, drop us an email at danielle@youngandcooper.com and we can set up a FREE Discovery Call.