Social media marketing mistakes you need to leave behind in 2021

Welcome to 2021! We made it…finally. 🥂

And with every new year comes New Year’s resolutions, our goals to finally tackle all of our projects.

New year, new you shouldn’t only apply to your own personal goals and resolutions. Your social media marketing strategy needs an overhaul too, especially if you make some of these common social media mistakes:

Skip out on social media marketing trends

Fleets. Reels. Who can keep track?! It seems like a new trend is released on a different social media platform every few months. 

While it’s tricky to stay in the loop or to know which trends are worth capitalizing on, you need to stay on top of new social media trends. After all, video content gets 49% higher interactions than images. 

This past year, Instagram introduced Instagram Reels and Twitter launched Fleets. While neither of these new features has drastically changed the social media landscape, they could make a huge difference.

You can expand your reach with Instagram Reels and share short videos that can be viewed by the entire Instagram community on Explore. Similarly, Fleets are a great way to solicit user-generated content, share limited edition announcements or products, or offer behind-the-scenes videos.

Businesses that used these features right away are already reaping the benefits.

If you have a tendency to wait and see whether or not a trend will take off before you get on board, you miss the chance to reach new customers and build your social media presence.

Treat each social media network the same

If you want to take your social media marketing to the next level, you need to optimize your social media marketing strategy for each platform. You shouldn’t implement the same strategies on Twitter that you use on Instagram or LinkedIn or Facebook.

Even social media marketing experts fall into the trap of sharing the same content across all their social media platforms. Who can blame them? This method is cost-effective and manageable.

However, if you want to connect with your audience and boost your profitability, refusing to treat each platform differently can do far more harm than good.

For example,

Remember, your followers are different on every social media platforms. They’re interested in different types of content and they expect your brand to deliver. 

In 2021, make it a priority to create unique content for each social media platform. 

TIP: Create a social media content calendar to help you create and schedule your posts for each platform.

Neglect to capitalize on comments

A Salesforce study found 66% of customers expect more companies to understand their expectations and needs. That includes listening and engaging with them regularly through social media. 

One of the biggest mistakes that brands make is to miss out on the benefits that come from their comment sections. 

This can happen in a couple of ways:

• Delete or combat negative comments: This prevents your business from hearing legitimate concerns from your audience and robs you of the opportunity to improve and grow your brand.
• Ignore comments: When you ignore comments, you miss out on the chance to connect with your audience and show them that your brand has a human side!

Make sure that you take advantage of all of the comments you receive, whether positive or negative, to help your brand blossom this year.

Overpromote your products

According to a report from Stackla, 90% of consumers expect authenticity from the brand they follow. 

If all of your social media posts are about your goods and services, you won’t find success on these platforms for long. Your content should cater to your audience’s interests, thus showing empathy and character. 

Social media users want brands to add value. This can be:

• A behind-the-scenes video that demonstrates your brand’s work culture and values
• Helpful tips relevant to your industry
• Other content that will make users eager to engage with your brand

Consumers are not only interested in your brand because of your products. They want to know that your brand has more to offer than the items you sell!

In 2021, don’t send incessant promotional messages and posts to your followers. Instead, see how you can add value.

Whether you are a social media marketing newbie or people would call you a guru, it can be easy to make any one of these mistakes.

Don’t get stuck in a rut in 2021 with the same social media blunders that other marketers made in 2020.

This year, resolve to leave these marketing mistakes behind and step up your social media strategy!

What’s a Great Way To Step Up Your Social Media Strategy?

Repurpose your content! Turn the amazing content you’ve already created into weeks worth of social media posts to save you time, money, and resources.

If repurposed content isn’t already a key component of your strategy (or if you struggle to find the time to repurpose) let’s chat! We’d love to show you the potential in your existing content.