The Design Group - Web Design Charleston Company

Tunnel Vision

A lot of people start their social media accounts with a very specific image of what they want their posts to look like. This is all well and good- having a goal to strive towards and an idea of what you want to post are both great ideas- except for when your focus becomes too narrow. One of the most important factors in succeeding on social media is flexibility. You have to be able to see what does and doesn’t work for your account and be willing to discard the latter. A very common mistake people make is to dig in and double down on content that isn’t getting any engagement, but the truth is this just isn’t a viable content marketing strategy. 

The solution is to try diversifying your content! This doesn’t mean abandoning the dreams you had in your head of what your account should be; it just means taking on new social media management strategies to see what gains traction. When you’re looking at a successful social media account, you don’t see the countless posts they made early on in their career that didn’t work. So be flexible and be willing to change up your strategy or content if what you’re doing right now isn’t working.

A Lack of Focus

Just like having too narrow of a focus can sabotage your social media account, not honing in on one type of content and not developing a consistent social media management strategy can be just as destructive to your engagement. Actor and martial artist Bruce Lee once said “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” By experimenting too much, you’ll not only confuse your audience but also yourself. Once you figure out what kind of content works for you, focus on it! The trick is to make posts that are consistent enough to give your followers something to expect but unique enough to keep them coming back for more.

This doesn’t mean that your content can’t evolve. In fact, we recommend continually focusing your social posts throughout your career in a process called “niching down”. Let’s say you make diet and fitness content, but over time you find that your dieting content performs better than your fitness content does, so you focus more and more on food. Then let’s say that you find out most of your viewer base are women aged 30-40, so you start making content more tailored to their tastes. Eventually, you’ve gone from a diet and fitness account that makes content for all ages and genders to a dieting account that makes content for women within a specific age range. While it might seem like casting a wider net would land you more fish, the truth is that people are more likely to interact with content that applies directly to them, and unless you specifically target them with your posts, they likely won’t see them.

Inconsistent Posting

Another easy mistake rookies commonly make in their social media management strategies is posting too much or too little. On the one hand, viewers like to see a consistent stream of content coming from you, or else they’ll lose interest in your account. However, if you post too often, it might be too much for them to keep up with and they might even get sick of you. The challenge is finding that “sweet spot” between the two that simultaneously keeps your audience engaged without alienating them. While the specific amount of posts you make depends on your niche, the absolute best way to guarantee consistent engagement is with consistent content.

At The Design Group, we recommend making a social calendar, as we do with all of our clients. Plan out all of the posts to put out in a given month or even a several-month period if you’re feeling ambitious. If you post one time a week for a month, try to keep that schedule for the next month, even if you feel like you have an abundance of ideas or like you’re running out. Once your audience gets used to your schedule, they’ll start looking forward to your posts whether they realize it or not. We typically recommend posting about 2-3 times per week for most of our clients.

Not Engaging With Your Audience

Your audience wants to know that you’re a real person or a real company that they can talk to. When someone utilizes our social media management services, we make sure that their account isn’t just seen as a platform that’s only used to get information out. Instead, think of your content as media that can spark discussion, provide value, and allow you to connect with the people who see your posts.

Engaging with your audience might look different depending on what kind of content you make and how often you post, but there are many different ways you can try to communicate with them. Respond to comments on your posts, host live streams where you read and respond to the live chat, or do giveaways that incentivize your followers to interact with your content. How you choose to connect with people is up to you, but just remember that your account isn’t a one-sided television show that people can only watch- it’s an interactive piece of media run by a real person. 

Not Looking at Other Accounts

Many new social media accounts make the mistake of only creating content without consuming any. While it’s important to always put your ideas out there in the form of innovative and creative content, the fact of the matter is you can’t get those ideas in the first place without seeing what other people have posted! While it might feel like cheating, following other accounts that make content similar to yours can be a great way to figure out what other people are doing well so you can emulate their process in your own posts. Even our experts here at The Design Group use social media regularly to keep up to date with trends and see what successful accounts are getting up to.

Just like a car needs fuel, your mind needs to consume media in order to come up with new ideas. Fill your social media page with accounts similar to yours, or even accounts that aren’t! Looking outside of your niche can be a great way to expand your horizons and evolve your own content. There are also tons of accounts that make content surrounding social media advice and ideas which can provide you with valuable insight into running your account.

Social Media is a Learning Process

Remember not to get discouraged when your content doesn’t perform as well as you’d hoped- improving your engagement is a slow but rewarding process! Starting out on social media can seem like an uphill battle, but hopefully, we’ve helped you avoid some of the pitfalls that accompany the beginning of a social career. If you’ve tried everything and your account still isn’t taking off, then let the experts handle it! Here at The Design Group, social media management services are one of the things we do best, and we’d be happy to work with you and help you develop a content marketing strategy to kickstart your social career.