Up your game on social media by avoiding these mistakes that social media messaging platform Buffer made and has since corrected:
“Focusing on quantity over quality” Consider reducing the frequency of your posts, so you share only the best content. Cutting its number of posts from four or five per day to one or two tripled Buffer’s engagement and reach on Facebook.- “Being on all social media platforms” Focus on the best-performing platforms, and concentrate your efforts where they can earn the best results.
- “Posting the same content across platforms” Content will perform better if you customize it for each platform. For example, hashtags are useful on Instagram but less effective on Facebook.
- “Using only landscape videos and images” Experiment with your image and video formatting. For Buffer, square videos performed better than letterbox videos in terms of views and engagement.
- “Sharing only our own content” Curated posts can reach a wider audience than self-generated content, build brand awareness and attract new fans.
- “Not curating user-generated content” When Buffer started curating user-generated content on Instagram, its following increased fivefold in less than six months.
- “Not uploading videos onto social media platforms” Loading videos directly onto Facebook rather than sharing a YouTube link can help you reach more viewers and increase the interaction and share rate.
- “Not targeting a specific audience for our content” On Facebook, define your preferred audience for specific posts. This can bump up the post’s score on personal relevancy, which means it is more likely to show up in people’s feeds.
- “Not boosting the right posts” Don’t trust your instincts when it comes to boosting social media posts. Check the stats, and promote the posts that already engage people.
- “Not replying to questions” Answer questions quickly and respond to mentions promptly to increase people’s likelihood of using your service or product, enhance brand loyalty, and potentially create positive word of mouth.
