Mistake #1. Advertising With No Plan, No Strategy

When it comes to advertising, you should always define goals and a plan to reach them. Without a strategy or plan, people commonly just “post & pray” – which can lead to time and money wasted and potentially a negative impact on your brand.

What are your goals? Who is your audience? What do you need to do to reach that audience and achieve your goals? Every post should have a purpose. The purpose will help you determine what the call-to-action is. Ads and posts should have good ad copy, they should be compelling and engaging. You want people to see them & want to read them. Your copy should reflect your brand and also align with your audience.

Mistake #2. Not Joining Social Media (Where your current customer is)

Not joining social media means you are missing out on potential opportunities to grow your business. By joining the RIGHT platforms, Social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn) can help you:

• Grow your presence and reach new audiences
• Engage in conversations already taking place about your brand, product, or service
• Position brand as an expert
• Establish credibility
• Engage and reward existing customers
• Collect valuable data

Just simply being on these platforms already gives you a stronger presence in the eye of your consumer.

Mistake #3. Joining Too Many Platforms & Abandoning Them

Here’s a big one. Joining a social media platform too quickly, without thought. There are so many platforms out there – before you know it you have a profile on every platform and no means to maintain it. This is a very common problem that people make. People get over zealous and excited about the potential, but then it becomes too much for them to handle. Instead master one platform, get really good at it. Be consistent, engaging and present. Once you mastered that one platform, determine if it makes sense to join another. If you don’t have the time or resources, don’t do it. The one rule is: if you are going to do it, do it well.

Mistake #4. Being A Perfectionist

Being picky is a good thing, but there is a point where being ‘too’ picky can end up hurting you. Too often people forget about the bigger picture. While you want to uphold your brand image and post good quality content, don’t get caught up on the details.

To avoid this pitfall:

• Start with a strategy. Let your plan be your guide.
• Different audiences will relate to different messages, topics, and visuals. When creating a piece of content, just remember who you are creating it for (and for that piece, no one else matters).
• Remember, content should be real and authentic. It’s OK to have a mix of professional vs. do-it-yourself content (videos).
• Sometimes the most viral content is something that looks like it was filmed on an iphone because it is something that the viewer feels connected to.
• Rather than focusing on perfection, focus on the message and passion behind the post.

Mistake #5. Ignoring Online Reviews OR Responding To Negative Feedback Poorly

Many companies and business owners fear responding to negative reviews because it is digital confrontation — opening a can of worms that will lead into a rabbit hole of hate. Bad reviews should not cause anxiety, but should be a moment to improve your brand and customer service. After all, research shows that customers are 45% more likely to visit your business if your company responds to negative reviews. You can learn the most about your customers from these types of reviews. These are also the reviews that other potential customers look at, and it can be their first impression, so you definitely want to be responding and showing that you as a company care.

Mistake #6. Boosting Posts On Facebook

Boosting posts is an effective and inexpensive way to get more exposure for your content. It’s a simple and easy process. TOO easy. It’s a great way to get more people to see your posts, promote special events, offers and news, and to reach new audiences through targeting. You can boost a post right from your Page for any amount you want. While it’s very tempting to do, it’s typically not effective. If you’ve done it, you likely spent $50 and then wondered what you got in return.

Why it’s a mistake:

• Boosting posts is limited.
• It might not align with your objective. In FB ads, you can select a specific objective that aligns with your goals.
• Limited budget control.

While boosting a post is still considered an ad, Facebook ads that are created through Ads Manager offer more advanced customization solutions. Where a boosted post may initially optimize for Page likes, comments, and shares or overall brand awareness, Facebook ads can optimize for app installs, website conversions, video views, shop orders and more.

Mistake #7. Targeting TOO Many People

Yes, there is such a thing as too many people when it comes to advertising. When a business uses Google ads or Facebook ads, they tend to want to target as many people as possible, the more the merrier right? Wrong. This is in fact actually just wasting money on unrealistic opportunity. When you are targeting people, you want to target those who are most likely to interact and engage. You want the people who are going to see your ad and think, “hey, I need that”, those who have interests aligned with your business and what you do, and those who fit the demographics of your business. When you try to target everyone or anyone, your ads and budget go to waste, and you will have nothing to show for your investments.

Mistake #8. Using Images Online Without Permission

This is a very common mistake that people make, that could actually cost them a lot in the long run. Using images that you find online and not checking for copyright permissions can get you into a lot of trouble. You ALWAYS need to check for copyright permissions on every single photo you use, unless you took it yourself with your own camera. Copyright infringement is a huge deal, and is image theft. The good news is though, there are plenty of both free and paid resources out there where you can find images and avoid this problem.

Mistake #9. Falling For All The Myths

There are a lot of myths and stigmas surrounding social media. People think you need focus on the amount of likes on your Facebook page. While yes, this is a good thing to have, it’s not everything. You should focus on your engagements, and the quality interaction that occurs. You don’t need a huge following to make an impact, you just have to know your audience.

People also believe that social media increases your SEO value. There is absolutely no evidence that indicates to that being true. Sometimes people see a correlation between having a good social media presence and a high SEO value, but that has more to do with them putting effort and strategy into the digital marketing plan in general, not that one is affecting the other.

People think there is a certain amount of times you should post a week. This is very circumstantial. This depends on who you are as a business, what you do and who your audience is. You also want to keep in mind that posting everyday without need to, can become repetitive.

People believe you should be using only Facebook and Instagram and constantly running ads to both platforms. This is not true at all. There are many businesses that benefit from Facebook and Instagram ads, but there are also many that don’t. Some businesses do far better on Google than they would on Facebook. This is something that is situational and really depends on the industry you are in. A lot of the time it is good to have a well-rounded mix of all different platforms, and not just focusing solely on Facebook or Instagram.

People believe that social media ads aren’t good for B2B companies. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Social media ads have complex targeting tools, where you can literally target someone based off of anything. That means yes, you can target demographics and interests, but you can also target industries and jobs. Social media ads are good for just about any business.

Mistake #10. Being Afraid To Ask For Help

Often people are afraid to ask for help. They can find it daunting. They think, “well if I don’t know it now, I can’t learn it,” but that’s not the case. There are SO many people that can help. Digital marketing is an industry in it’s own.

Agencies can help you, they can get you started and put you on the right track, but they can also help explain to you what it is that they are implementing and help you understand and learn along the way. Being afraid to ask for help is only hurting yourself in the end.