Living and breathing social media marketing is a blessing and a curse.

On one hand, there’s always something new to learn and try. However, not everything makes sense when it comes to marketing your brand and sometimes people can lose focus on strategy due to the bright and shiny nature of the new tactics that pop up.

Recent conversations got us thinking, so we wanted to talk about some social media marketing mistakes we see brands make, and how they can fix them.

1. No Content Strategy

Whenever we work with a new client, one of the first things they want to know is what we’re going to be posting. Typically, I’ll work backwards here and recommend a content strategy, not just “postings”.

The difference between the two is simple – a strategy is comprised of content pieces meant to serve a specific purpose, while posting is publishing content just to have something in the feed for that day.

Never post for the sake of posting. Ever.

We recommend drafting out a content calendar that outlines the days, themes and goals of each content piece so that you have a top-level view of the content being served to your social audience. Consider your content strategy a living entity that’s strict, yet also very flexible and can change with trends.

A proper content strategy is key to every successful social media strategy.

 2. Poor Visuals

With the rise of cinemagraphs, GIFs and videos, your social media visuals need to be high quality to be noticed.

Not every brand has the budget to invest in hi-res photos and video shoots, however, there are resources out there like Pexels and Death to Stock Photo that provide high-quality graphics for free. You can create some awesome content using free stock photos and doctoring them up in a platform like Canva.

At the end of the day, your content speaks about your brand. Don’t rely on itty bitty thumbnails or link previews to help tell your story if they aren’t visually appealing. Take the extra time and make sure you’re presenting people with something that looks so great they stop scrolling.

 3. Incomplete Reporting

We firmly believe in providing as much data as possible to clients.

Typically, we start with reports that feature the “meat and potatoes” KPIs, like social community growth, impressions, engagements and website traffic. With this base data, we can then start answering more detailed and specific questions that a client might have, such as behavior on the website or demographics.

Unfortunately, when we partner with clients, we usually find that they either don’t have any reporting set up or are focusing on irrelevant data points.

When you have incomplete reporting, you don’t have a clear picture on how your social media efforts are impacting your business. Find out what’s most important to your brand and measure it meticulously.

 4. Neglecting Social Ads

The number of social advertisers has doubled year-over-year, and it’s no surprise why.

There is no more cost-effective way to reach a targeted group of consumers than ads on social media, however, we still see brands reluctant to spend media dollars on social. Meanwhile, they’re confidently dumping a few thousand dollars a month into billboard placements. With all the targeting capabilities available, it is a huge mistake to not invest in social ads.

With consistent effort, you’ll see website traffic increase, which enable remarketing pools and a lift in bottom line results.

If you’re looking to social media to help build your business, avoid making these mistakes – it’ll save you a lot of time, money and frustration in the long run.

Article was written by  Nathan Mendenhall for Social Media Today