Do you feel like your social media posts are grabbing people’s attention as well as they should? Social media is a great avenue of bringing in business and building your brand, but a lot can go wrong if you’re not careful. There’s also a lot that goes into creating captivating social media posts. 

For starters, you want to be effective with your posts because you have invested time and likely money into your social media efforts. Here are the 8 fundamental mistakes many businesses are doing wrong with their social media. Avoid these and save yourself from stale social posts!

1. Your posts lack a cohesive direction

Many small businesses make the mistake of lacking a clear direction with their posts. They lose a lot of momentum as they don’t capitalize off each post by coordinating them with a strategy and specific goals. A plan for your social media is essential to success. It is important that your posts work together in a cohesive way or you won’t make near as much progress with your posts.

2. The frequency of your posting is all wrong

Along with planning what direction you take, it is important to plan out how often you want to post on each channel of social media. For example, Facebook behaves differently than LinkedIn. The frequency with which you should post all depends on what types of social media posts you are doing. Making a schedule for each platform you will be using and posting regularly is crucial to having an effective social media presence.

3. Your posts are too wordy

A lot of businesses fall victim to the mistake of having way too much text. We live in an age of speed and efficiency and many people struggle to stay focused when a post has too much text. The key to maintaining people’s attention is to keep things short and sweet. Get to the point and use helpful visuals instead of going overboard on copy.

4. All your posts look alike

It can be easy to get into a groove and start cranking out posts that are what you might call “cookie cutter posts.” It’s very important that all your posts don’t come off as the exact same. Make sure your look and feel changes post to post…If your posts feel redundant, people won’t give them a chance. People naturally want to experience new things, so your posts need to feel new and different.

5. Your posts don’t stand out

Lots of businesses can fall short of their aspirations because their content lacks a creative edge. Your posts need to be unique as well as reflect your brand. There are millions of ads on social media. It is important that your posts don’t feel just like another ad. This creative edge could come in many forms. Some businesses use humor and others just have a very human quality to them. No matter what approach you take, just make sure your posts stand out!

6. Your pictures and graphics aren’t used effectively

Many businesses struggle with using their images effectively because they don’t know how to use them effectively. Uninteresting pictures (ex. Stock imagery), pictures that don’t properly represent your brand, or images that seem to be too alike from post to post will not contribute to your social media efforts and can make your posts feel monotonous or bland. It is important to use humorous, exciting, and interesting images in your social media, that appropriately reflect your brand.

7. Your posts don’t promote engagement

You have good pictures, you used your copy effectively and it’s interesting, but now what? A lot of businesses have this problem. Lots of opportunities are missed because there is no CTA (call to action). It’s at this point that a call to action, a link, or something to take the person to the next step is crucial. If you do have a call to action, but your posts still aren’t getting a lot of results, revisit your calls to action and try to get the prospect to take action.

8. Your posts don’t build your credibility

If you consistently post with grammar problems or incorrect information, you will ruin your credibility. You reeeeeeaaaalllyyy don’t want to look foolish or be perceived as dumb when you are representing your brand. These sorts of mistakes aren’t the end of the world but they do hurt your credibility. It is good to review things always before posting.

 In conclusion…

Applying these principles to your social media can make a big difference as you try to improve the effectiveness of your posts. Keeping your social media fresh and avoiding the things that make posts stale can really boost the effectiveness of your social media strategy. Remember, It is the little things that can make a big difference when they are done well.

If you have any comments, questions, or marketing needs contact us here! We’d love to help!

-The Forge Team