Over the past few years, social media has become one of the most widely used marketing platforms in the world. More and more businesses are turning to these platforms for a fresh perspective on their marketing strategies. That being said, just because you set up a Twitter or Instagram account, doesn’t mean that you are doing it right. We made a list of some of the most common social media mistakes that we’ve come across, in the hopes that you can learn from other’s mistakes!

 

The Twitter @ Symbol

Not many people know about this one, so we wanted to put in on the top of our list.
When you want to tweet at someone, unless you want the conversation to be limited to just your followers who also follow the person your tweeting at, you shouldn’t start the tweet with that persons twitter handle.
For example:

When you start off your tweet with “@poptarts”, you are limiting your outreach to just your followers who also follow @poptarts.

To avoid this, you should compose your tweets similar to this:

This way, your tweet gets sent out to all of your followers, and not just mutual Poptart lovers.

If you simply cannot afford to reword your tweet, you can simple add a period to the beginning of your tweet like this:

When you add the period, it makes it so that the person’s twitter handle isn’t the first thing, so it gets sent out to all of your followers.

 

No Hashtags

Basically every social media site now a days uses hashtags (#). Hashtags are a great little tool that allows you to “tag” your posts and content so others who are looking for similar content can find yours.

For example: Join us for our yearly #fundraiser at the (local ice cream store)! We are giving away free #icecream cones to everyone who makes a donation today! #community

I used the hashtag on the word “fundraiser”, “icecream”, and “community”. Because I did this, people who search for any of these 4 words on Twitter, Instagram, or even Facebook will see your post.

Remember – only use hashtags that will help your message. This means no hashtags with random words attached. If you are writing about your ice cream fundraiser, don’t add #kittens or something that doesn’t mesh with your original message.

 

Too Many Hashtags

Now because hashtags are so useful, we often see people abusing them as well. Finding a balance between just enough hashtags and too many hashtags can be a struggle, but it is essential that you do not overuse the hashtag feature. For us, 3 hashtags seems to be the magic number.

Reason why using too many hashtags can be overkill:
1) Hashtags take up precious space on your post, so use them wisely! For example, in twitter you can only use 140 characters… Do you really want to waste them on hashtags that don’t help your main message?

2) They can distract you from the message you are trying to convey. When there are too many hashtags, it can take your consumers eye off of the main subject matter.

3) Too many hashtags can make your post look like spam. A lot of people who are spamming social media sites use upwards to 12-15 hashtags!

 

Inconsistent Branding

One of the things that makes it harder for your customers to find you is inconstant branding. When you set up your multiple social media platforms, you must remember that your logo, the colors you choose, and your overall “brand” feels the same on each website. You should not be using a blue version of your logo on Twitter, and a red version on Facebook. You need to keep your brand consistent to keep your professional image.

 

No Interaction With Followers

If you build it, that does not necessarily mean that they will come. In order to build a following you need to actively interact with your followers. If you see something interesting that they post, make sure to let them know what you think! If someone replies or comments on something that you post, you should make sure to keep the conversation going, even if it is a simple “thank you!”

It is called social media after all, so try and be as social as possible, without flooding your timeline.

And that’s it! Social Media outlets are always evolving, so if you ever find yourself losing touch make sure to give us a shout and we’ll always be here to help you!