A handful of digital marketing mistakes can easily topple even the best social media marketing campaign.
The marketplace is competitive, the economy is uncertain, and the world seems to be in perpetual “emotion.” As a result, you might put your digital marketing on auto-pilot with so many issues to track. Of course, automation is essential, but you want to be careful not to fall into the trap of these nine digital marketing mistakes.
Article continues after video
Not Keeping Up With New Platform Features
Your social media content routine can become habitual, especially if you use automation tools. But social media channels are constantly evolving. So what helped you to the top of the charts last year may not work today. In addition, algorithms are in constant flux, meaning that even within a year, your tried-and-true strategy may no longer work.
Here are some examples.
Instagram announced several new features, including pinned posts, Creators Marketplace, and Reels up to 90 seconds in length. You’ve probably noticed how many Instagram reels are showing up in your feed these days. Of course, text-based content is still valuable, but if you don’t want to lose your followers, allow yourself to evolve too.
Whenever a social media channel adds new features, they prioritize the accounts that use them. If you use a prioritized feature, you’ll increase reach and impressions even more than if you post the video to your feed.
It’s not only Instagram. LinkedIn revised its algorithms this spring, and Facebook is constantly mixing them up.
Avoid this digital marketing mistake by constantly monitoring platform updates and applying them as soon as possible.
Cross-posting Videos With Watermarks
If you’re a small business owner or solopreneur, you have limited time for digital marketing. We’ve talked about cross-posting and repurposing in previous blog articles. It saves time and extends your brand reach. But, when you cross-post videos, you want to post the original video.
Many Instagram users, for example, cross-post TikTok videos to their Instagram feed. The problem, though, is that the TikTok watermark shows up. So if you’re not careful, you could find yourself in shadow-ban land.
What does it mean if you’re shadow-banned? Your account is still alive and visible, but your posts are suppressed no matter how great they are. So you’ll expend much time and energy to put out amazing content, but almost no one will see it.
Avoid this digital marketing mistake by posting the original videos on your social feeds.
Your Bio
One of the top digital marketing mistakes is failing to optimize your bio.
Your social profile bio is prime real estate, yet many businesses pay scant attention to what it can do to drive viewers and followers to their website. You have limited bandwidth to write, so you want to be precise.
Tell who you are, what you do, why, and how you can help your audience.
Use targeted keywords and hashtags.
Be sure to include a link to your website or e-commerce site.
Buying Followers
It may sound enticing, but at the end of the road, you’ll find that you’ve spent money and gotten very little in return.
The number of followers is not the objective—buyers are the objective. So what if you have 10,000 followers or 25,000 followers? You’ve wasted your money if your bottom line doesn’t grow.
Furthermore, many followers that you purchase are bot accounts. Therefore, you won’t see an increase in engagement, shares, or promotions.
Working with influencers is not the same as buying followers. In fact, depending on your niche, you may want to explore working with micro-influencers. Even B2B companies are experiencing success with this strategy.
Growing your followers requires a steady commitment to posting engaging, helpful content daily. It means knowing your target audience, listening to their pain points, and responding with products and services that they need.
Consistency, authenticity, and empathy are the best paths to growing your followers.
Ignoring Your Competitors
You’ll learn a lot by following your competitors. Remember, they’re your competitors because they’re also targeting your customers.
Tracking your competitors’ digital marketing content lets you know what’s working for them. Reading what their followers say in the comment section, for example, gives you invaluable insight into trends, customer needs, and new product or service ideas.
Ignoring the competition is one of the top digital marketing mistakes that can impede your growth.
Redundancy
Let’s start with Twitter. If you’re trying to increase traction on Twitter, you might be tempted to tweet the same thing several times a day or week. Probably you’ve heard this advice. But, if someone decides to check out your profile and your feed is filled with the same content, they’ll feel that you don’t have many insights to offer. As a result, you give the impression that there’s nothing new to learn from you, and your follower will move on to another account.
Your Twitter account should have variety and fresh content. If you have a blog article that is getting good metrics, there’s no problem with posting snippets on Twitter. Mix up the snippets, change the images, and add new insight each time you share it. The point is to make it fresh, even if it’s an article from a month or two ago.
Redundancy can happen on other platforms too. We’ve spoken in previous articles about repurposing content. If you’re a small business or solopreneur, you should repurpose to save time and stay on track with consistent posting. But repurposing doesn’t mean slapping the same content across all your digital channels. Instead, keep in mind how your customers consume content on each channel.
Repurpose your content by making it into a video, infographic, quote, meme, or some other content type that makes it relevant, engaging, and appropriate for the social channel.
Ignoring The Nuances Of Each Social Media Platform
All social channels are not the same. What works well on Facebook may not work well on LinkedIn. Some may argue that LinkedIn is starting to feel more like Facebook today, but they still have different features and posting best practices. Adjust your content to the platform rather than expecting the same results with the same type of content on all your social channels.
Erasing Negative Comments
It might be tempting to delete negative comments on your social feeds, but this would be a mistake. Plus, you’ll miss an opportunity to demonstrate that you hear your customers and take the time to address their concerns.
Rather than erasing negative comments, engage the poster. Respectfully respond to their issue. Ask for more information. Inquire about the experience and how you can improve.
You’re never going to please everyone all the time. However, it’s a basic rule of reality that you’ll have negative comments or feedback from time to time. How you deal with it is a learning opportunity for you and your audience.
Not Using Social Media To Build A Brand Community
As mentioned above, social channels are constantly revising their algorithms. Of course, you need to stay informed and pivot as necessary, but the best way to insulate yourself from the impact of algorithm updates is to build a brand community.
Building a brand community on your social channel or website allows you to reach your customers regardless of algorithm preferences. You’ll be able to engage in conversations with your customers, test out or announce new products or services, and build a team of brand ambassadors. Word of mouth is still the best form of marketing.
A brand community requires time, but the ROI is worth it. You’ll need a moderator and content that keeps your members engaged. Read our previous article on brand communities for tips and best practices.
Bottom Line
Digital marketing mistakes are easily avoidable.
-
- Know your target audience.
- Keep an eye on your competitors.
- Use social listening tools to stay abreast of trends, consumer needs, and customer feedback.
- Stay informed of algorithm updates.
- Cross-post and repurpose carefully and strategically.
- Avoid redundancy.
- Optimize your social channel bios.
- Build a brand community.
- Listen to your customers.
Let us know what you think in the comment box below. And don’t forget to sign up for the blog.