4 Social Media Mistakes You Are Likely Making

There are 7.7 billion people on the face of this earth, and over half of them are using social media. Of the 4.5 billion social media users, the overwhelming majority are browsers, casually scrolling without the intention of posting content with any specific purpose. Those that are producing content on a regular basis have a great deal of opportunity at their fingertips, yet so many are making simple, avoidable mistakes.

Before you jump on your soapbox, let me be clear. Social media can be used in a wide variety of ways. Some good, some bad. Some for leisure, others for profit. I am specifically talking to those that are looking to grow their audience for X, Y, or Z reasons. 

Avoid These Social Media Mistakes Like The Plague

When thinking about dos and don’ts of social media, we aren’t discussing things that make you go viral for all the wrong reasons. That could be an article in and of itself. Instead let’s focus our attention on simple mistakes that impact your ability to build an audience, establish credibility, and generate results.

Overthinking It

You don’t have to be Martin Luther King, Jr. or Mahatma Gandhi in every message that you create. If you seem too polished it can seem fake and lack credibility. Stop overthinking it.

Before we jump on the blame train, can we back up a bit? We are all guilty of overthinking our content. You know the feeling. You try to capture the perfect message that will resonate with your audience one draft after another until you abandon the post.

Sometimes the best course of action is to simply get it out.

Content doesn’t always have to provide earth-shattering revelations. It can be as simple as your unique perspective. If you disagree with an article, social media provides the platform for you to say “This is garbage and here is why.”

Using Big Words or Phrases

Are you using 10 cent words or $2 words? If you have never heard the expression, the two dollar words are bigger. In social media, bigger is not always better. Most industry experts suggest that you write like an 8th grader.

As someone who has a son in middle school, I can tell you that they are not overthinking which word is the personification of _______. The majority of the time it is straight to the point and they might throw in a TikTok dance just for kicks.

Take a script out of the 8th grader playbook, keep it simple and get your point across. Don’t feel that you have to impress your readers by wielding your vocabulary like Excalibur. Doing so could alienate a large portion of your audience, and damage your credibility.

Making It All About Yourself

This might be the hardest thing to hear in business, but here goes. Your audience does not give a damn about your company and what you sell. They only care about how they can benefit. Whew, that stings a little to write.

Getting over the fact that you can’t make your content all about you or your business is absolutely critical, especially if you are using social media as an additional sales pipeline. So how should you sell on social?

Make about the problem that you solve. Make the customer or prospect the hero. Good marketing makes them think you are smart. Great marketing makes them think that they are a genius for discovering your product or service.

Forgetting The Purpose

This last one should seem pretty simple yet so many social media users forget the overall goal of their content. The tricky thing is that this aspect will vary from person to person. As previously stated, some have no intention of using social media to drive a prospect deeper into their sales pipeline.

That being said, every content creator does have a reason or purpose for posting. It could be to help save the sea turtles from straws, raise money for a nonprofit organization, or drive sales for a startup. Those that are leveraging social media as a tool should keep the overall purpose in the back of their mind.

Does this post need a call to action? How does this message help me toward my end goal? These questions are just the tip of the iceberg, but should be a thread that ties content together. Doing so will help you build your audience and create loyal followers that actually engage with your content.

A Common Thread

Throughout this article you likely noticed a common theme, the idea of creating credibility. The challenge with social media is that there is an unfathomable amount of content being produced daily. Because of this it can be hard to stand out. Credibility is the one of the best ways to get your message across. It doesn’t require you to be louder than the company next door. It simply requires you to build trust with your audience. Once you have that you are golden. Stay golden ponyboy!

And, of course, Hire a Writer if you need help.