15 Social Media Mistakes To Avoid in 2021

Sharing casual articles, posting simple photos, or some tweets is not enough to make social media platforms a valuable and profitable part of your marketing strategy.

Are you a social media manager, and you're crafting a marketing strategy for your brand on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 🤔

There are a number of great digital marketing pointers from top professionals out there, and they all include social media tips. That's because, when done right, social media has a huge potential of skyrocketing businesses.

But let's cut to the chase and go over the most common social media mistakes brands and social media managers tend to still do in 2021!

Most common social media mistakes

Instagram

1. Buying likes and followers

Big numbers say a lot about a company, person, or influencer on any other social media platform, but especially on Instagram, where many influencers receive money in exchange for their posts.

Buying likes and followers might be a temptation for some, but just having a large community doesn’t guarantee success.

There are some methods to build an artificial community like creating fake accounts and then using them to like your branded content or buying bot services to generate comments and likes.

A big no for all the above.

Using shortcuts on Instagram to achieve the success you dream of is an action Instagram doesn't agree with. Since the platform's strategy is to encourage constant engagement with other users, it can detect if an account is fake.

Moreover, Instagram has a team dedicated to identifying spam and deleting fake accounts.

Here's how you can identify if an Instagram account is fake:

The majority of posts are shared on one day
The number of followers is below the number of followings
High follower count and low engagement
Spammy comments

If you want more hearts and comments to appear when you post something, you can run Stories Ads, Pictures Ad, Video, Carousel, Collection, or Explore versions.

2. Not using hashtags

This is another big social media mistake you should avoid.

Introduced in 2010, Instagram hashtags are highly used to promote content by brands and people on the platform.

They represent a creative combination of letters, numbers, and even emojis followed by the # symbol. For companies, this is an excellent opportunity to reach new audiences.

Tap on a hashtag, and this will lead you to a thread with all the posts that contain that hashtag, like in the below picture.

According to our Instagram hashtag study, depending on the number of your followers, you can use a different number of hashtags to increase the engagement of your Instagram account.

For example, profiles that have between 50K and 100K followers have performed best when using eight hashtags in the caption.

NOTE! Try not to exaggerate with the number of hashtags - otherwise, your post will look spammy. Get rid of those who are too broad or too big because they don’t help you boost engagement.

Here are a few benefits of including hashtags in your marketing strategy:

Hashtags provide reach - More people will see and maybe interact with your content.
They are eye-catching - When used in your caption, they attract attention and might make people curious to tap on them to see other similar content.
You can have your branded hashtags - Keep tabs of your posts by using branded hashtags or choose a campaign-specific one.

3. Not using Stories

Instagram Stories are an absolute sensation on the platform. They’ve become so popular because they can allow users to share the content they want, but only for a limited period - 24 hours.

Instagram Stories are very interactive, and the platform makes them more appealing day by day. From question stickers to poll stickers, location tag, or live chat, you have a lot of ways to reach more viewers and keep them engaged.

They’re very popular among brands, and half of them are using Stories regularly. Also, according to our Instagram Stories study, the optimal number of Stories within a day is up to 6 Stories.

If you want to increase the popularity of your brand, start using Stories!

4. Using low-quality photos

In terms of visual content, Instagram is the king.
It's best known for its stunning user-generated photos and its capability to make people and brands post their most beautiful images and videos.

Fashion brands like H&M, Zara, Reserved are using Instagram posts to attract more customers and make more sales.

The biggest social media mistake you can make is to neglect your photos and to post low-quality ones.

As a business, you have to be as professional as possible, and your images and your attention to detail on Instagram, and not only tells a lot about your brand.

Instagram has its tools to edit your photos, but if you want your content to stand out in the crowd, make sure you invest time into crafting and polishing your pictures before you post them.

5. Ignoring your Instagram bio

What’s a brand without a proper description?
Make sure you don't skip this part because with a great bio, you’ll attract attention, and you’ll have an impact on those who are interested in your company or product.

The benefits of creating the perfect Instagram bio:

This is the only place Instagram allows you to add a link - take advantage of this feature and add your website link. (you can change the link anytime you want)
Great chance to add a call to action that will enable visitors to call or email you directly.

Take a look at these Instagram bio examples: If I'm looking at Sue B. Zimmerman Instagram bio, I know immediately that her new YouTube video is live, and I know what I'm going to learn before opening it.

Also, I can see that she's an Instagram expert, so if I want to learn more about this platform, I must follow her.

Looking at Dr. Natalia's Instagram bio, I know that she's going to share tips & tricks about LinkedIn. I want to become better on LinkedIn? She's the person I am going to follow.

NOTE! You can edit your Instagram bio whenever you want.

6. Not switching to an Instagram business account

Not updating your profile to a business one can have a negative impact on your brand. There are multiple reasons, but the most important one is that you don’t have access to your analytics.

Once you switch to a business profile, you’ll be able to learn more about your content, activity, and audience.

The Content tab lets you see how your posts, stories, and promotions are performing.

Activity tab is where you can keep tabs of your Interactions, Reach, and Impressions, while in the Audience tab, you can learn more about your audience (gender and age), including follower growth over time.

Facebook

7. Not managing negative feedback

Amy Cooper, content creator for Bauer Media, thinks that if you receive negative feedback, a kind response will usually be required.

Amy: While sometimes negatives comments are just that (there's a reason writers are told never to read the comments section) when valid criticisms are coming through, content creators and brands must take note of these and learn from their mistakes.

Depending on your business and what your primary use of social media is (for example, if your audience often uses social media as a customer complaints channel), then a thoughtful response will usually be required.

Many brands tend not to take into consideration negative reviews, but they can affect your image, and ultimately they can become a total nightmare. To avoid these things you have to manage negative feedback by:

writing a short, non-confrontational reply that shows that you are going to take into consideration the issue raised;
apologising if it’s the case;
better explaining a situation and trying to avoid complications in the future.

By having this attitude, your community will know you are listening to their complaints, issues, and problems, boosting your customer service skills and brand image simultaneously.

8. Marketing to the wrong audience

Speaking for a group of people who are not interested in what you’re saying is one of the worst strategies you can have if you want to grow your business on social media.

If you want good results, you have to correlate your content with your target audience.

Is your audience interested in social media and how to promote a business on different platforms?
Write about this.

In the long term, it’s worth investing time and energy into finding more about your audience like their interests, their location, gender.

Having in mind your audience will help you quickly and more efficiently set up a media marketing strategy.

9. Not adjusting your social media posts with your marketing strategy

Having a marketing strategy is a must for any brand; therefore, the lack of a strategy will seriously affect your image and reputation.

People will start looking somewhere else, where they can find the content they are looking for if you don’t answer their demands. But you can’t do this without spending time and energy in advance.

Make sure you have a neat image and write posts that are showing your expertise in the field, your constant strive to be the best.

10. Not completing your page information

Your Facebook “About” section projects the image your brand has online. It contains a lot of information like a category, the official name, plus username, business information, as well as additional info such as email, website, etc.

Showing your followers the essential things about your business, you will make them perceive you trustworthy and a serious company, they can rely on.