Social media has been a part of our lives for years now. Whether Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, people have hooked on to these platforms for hours of their daily lives. It’s not been long since people started accessing social media on their phones. The initial stage of social media was on computers when smartphones didn’t even exist.
Social media apps or websites are made for everyone and have their arms and legs spread in almost every genre and category that they can be used for. For instance, Twitter is specifically made for sharing news and quotes, and links to websites in the shortest possible way.
On the other hand, platforms like Instagram and TikTok are designed to share photos and videos in a very organized manner. One of the best features of social media is that it is raw and uncensored. Many social media platforms set a bar for what pictures you can post or the kind of language one must not use. But if we compare it to other means of mass communication, like newspapers or radio, or television, the limitations of social media are the size of an ant. To get access to social media, there is not much a person needs.
All it requires is a device that is not too old and an internet connection. That’s all you need to sign up on any social media platform, and you can share whatever you feel like sharing or something that is content-worthy. As we know, social media covers a lot of applications and websites. The tools and the interface differ in some. Usually, most social media platforms start by asking the user to create a profile. Once done, you can share your content.
If you wish to see someone else’s content, depending on the social media platform you are using, you can either “follow” them or send them a “friend request.” Even the social media app that you are using helps you in reaching your desired content. Social media companies use particular algorithms based on the data in one’s profile and show posts determined by that.
That was a basic understanding of most social media platforms and how they work to provide their users with the best experience. I am sure most of you have got the hang of it. But there are a lot of people who are new to social media and need help with it. Though, this is all you need to know about social media’s way of working if you are there just for some fun and passing your time.
But if you are a creator, or as people are called “influencers,” you need to know more than this. Let us take Instagram as our case study. Creators are those people who post photos, or in this case, photos and Reels, daily to engage with the audience and promote their content.
These creators, who are on Instagram for a long time now and have gained many followers, pretty much know how to use Instagram’s algorithm to their benefit. But there are hundreds of creators out there who are active on Instagram or the social media platform they choose to promote their content for a long time and haven’t seen the desired results.
Not only those who are there for a long time, but many people who think of becoming creators face these issues, where they can’t reach their target audience or gain followers. It is very important to know how the algorithm of a particular social media platform is designed.
It is also important to figure out where you have been wrong and find appropriate solutions for that. Listed below are the ten most common mistakes people make on social media while marketing their content and how to correct them.
Having no set plan and working randomly:
Many people start their journey as influencers or creators who are way too excited and post random stuff on their profile. It is not only you who promotes your content. Social media platforms help your content reach people. When you post random stuff at random times, social media gets confused and promotes random pictures and videos, not the ones you wish to. For example, Instagram has a special “creator’s profile” in the app. When you opt for that, your account is open to the public.
Instagram then calculates when your post will get the most engagement. It calculates the time when most of the audience comes online on Instagram. That is the most suitable time for you to post, so it reaches as many people as possible. As discussed above, Instagram shows you the posts that you usually search for and see. So the trick here to get the most engagement on your posts is to post pictures/videos at a certain time, when most people are active, and post content related to your target nichè to attract a target audience.
If you don’t have a target audience and post random pictures, be it on Instagram or Facebook or tiktok, it won’t get as much engagement. So plan out what you are going to post each day. Make a planner if you are serious about it. Post content at a certain time, and most importantly, have patience.
Not having a nichè or a target audience:
As mentioned above, having a nichè and an audience is important. If you post absolute random stuff at random times, it will just not work for you. For instance, if you are interested in fashion, and you want to tell the world about your fashion sense, you can’t post stuff about sports or trivia. It has to be related to fashion.
Having a nichè is a big deal for a creator because that nichè helps them attract the desired crowd towards their page, and people who are interested in fashion will get to see your page more often.
Besides, who knows if you idealize someone and they see your page? Lucky for you. Most people who use any social media app are aged between 18-35. This puts them in the category of Millenials. If you target only Millenials, trust me, it is over. You have to target those interested in your content, and if you are marketing a product, then those who buy it. When you set a target audience and a category, you can easily engage with people, and your products get more reach.
You are inconsistent:
This is the worst thing about a content creator. Note this- if you want to succeed on any social media platform with whatever content you make, you have GOT TO BE CONSISTENT. There is absolutely no room at all for laziness. A lot of people aren’t able to succeed on social media because of this. All it takes is 2 minutes out of 24 hours to post a picture or a video. Try and be as consistent as you can be. \
If you plan to make content on a particular day, don’t just create it for that day only. Instead, plan and create for the next few days too. This will be easier for you, as you won’t keep thinking about creating new stuff every second day. You’ll have to worry about posting and not creating.
Consistency is the key here. The more you post, the more people will see your content and engage in it. You never know, someday, you might gain a thousand followers in a night! Yes, it’s no joke. There are many people out there, whether it’s on Facebook or Instagram, or Tiktok, who have gained 10s, maybe 20 thousand followers in a single day. How? Just because they were consistent and their content was engaging to the audience.
Buying followers:
Can you believe this? People buy followers. It is very clear that paying someone to follow you is completely off the grid and is illegal on every social media platform. But when you are posting consistently, and your content is also nice, still you aren’t getting recognition. This option seems more and more tempting. After all, what’s wrong with getting 2000 followers just for $10, right? Wrong. It’s very simple to understand.
Hear this out if you buy followers, you are going against the algorithm of, let us say, Facebook or Instagram. For instance, you had 200 followers, and you bought 1000 followers. The accounts that follow you when you “buy” them have hundreds of subscriptions to different accounts. More than 70% of your followers are ones with these subscriptions.
Now, imagine, when you post something, how many people will see your post? According to Instagram’s algorithm, when you post, Instagram will show your posts to these accounts rather than your real followers, who like and comment on your post. These paid accounts have zero interest in your posts.
Hence, all your efforts go to waste. Always keep in mind. You do want followers and engagement, but not in such a way that will cause you to account for drowning instead of growing. Never buy followers.
You are not responding to comments/negative comments:
Let us face it. If 100 people like your post and comment on good things, there will always be five people out of the 100 who will spread hatred on your post. But you have got to face it. Their cant is growth without criticism. It would be best if you had people criticize your work, or else you’ll think you are the best, and that is not good. Replying to negative comments DOES NOT mean that you have to start arguing with the person. It is just a waste of time.
But ignoring them is a big mistake. It’s not only about negative comments. You are doing wrong even if you ignore a single comment. You have got to understand this. People who comment on your post are the ones who genuinely like your content, and they take out time to appreciate your work. Ignoring those comments is simply rude. Instead of deleting those negative comments or ignoring any comment even by mistake, what you can do is positively reply to them as soon as you receive a notification about it.
If people can comment on your post, why can’t you take out time and reply to them right? And When I reply positively, it doesn’t mean that if someone abuses you, you say thank you. In that case, all you do is ignore. But if someone is genuinely commenting on logical stuff, you reply and make them understand why you think it should be the way you are suggesting. Another way of response is that you can privately message the person and talk there if you don’t want others to read.
You are not hooking on to trends:
Posting every day is very good for your profile. But it is not enough. Your posts have to be engaging. The best way to create engaging content is to hop on to every trend that goes viral on the social media platform you are active on. Do not copy what other people are making. Stick to your nichè and create trendy content related to your category.
Now the question comes- how to know what’s trending? Simple, whenever you get some free time, look at what other people are creating. Look at posts, reels, videos posted by people who have lots of followers.
Generally, these are the people who start a new trend. What’s a trend? If a famous person does something, and people copy that in their ways, it’s a trend. So always keep looking for new stuff that catches your attention. There have been instances where people got more than 10 million views and 2-3 million likes on their posts in a single day, or in some cases, a few hours!
So trends are one of those techniques on social media that helps you gain a lot of attention if your content is engaging.
Using irrelevant hashtags:
If, by any chance, you think that hashtags aren’t important. I suppose you might be wrong. Hashtags are the most important thing, after content, of course. If you want your content to get exposure, you need to use hashtags in your post. But that’s not enough. If your content is related to, let us say, gym and workout and fitness, your hashtag cannot be related to business or entrepreneurship, or fashion.
By doing that, your hashtags lose their worth. Your hashtags need to be related to what you post. Get it this way. You have to go to a Halloween party where the theme is, as usual, costumes. Now, if you show up wearing a tux or a three-piece suit, will it be relevant to the theme? Not. The same is with hashtags.
Don’t post boring content:
Every day, approximately over 100 million posts are posted. It is very easy to get lost in these posts with boring and unengaging posts. If you want to get lost, there are a million places on this planet. Go there. To not be one of those boring creators who have no reach among their audience, you need to do your audience research as mentioned above also, and you are 50% there. If you know what audience is interested in your content and what content your audience finds engaging, you will rule social media. Post more photos instead of texts. Photos are far more visually appealing than texts. Pictures and videos increase about 40% chances of getting noticed by people, and even the social media platform you are posting on promotes visually appealing content more.
You are on the wrong social media platform:
Every social media platform is created differently, attracting different audiences. It is as good as wasting your time on such a platform where you don’t have your desired audience or you don’t get engagement on your content. This doesn’t mean that you should spread your arms on every social media platform that ever created. By doing this, you won’t focus your content because every platform requires specific content. So it is better to stick to one. But how to find out which social media platform is best for the growth of your content? Simple. How you get to know about everything- surveys. It is not the only method, but it surely is the best one. Use available reports and results of recent surveys, see what people are using the most, and get on that social media platform.
You are not checking your results:
How do you know that all that hard work while creating your content and all the time you invested in research and following trends is worth it or not? Don’t worry. Almost every social media platform has an Analytic page to track your post engagement and how much audience is reached. If you don’t follow or analyze, you are just blindly posting stuff and expecting a response.
So it is very beneficial to use these in-built tools. They are there for a reason. Once you keep track of where most of the audience belongs to, as in which country or region of the world, or once you get to know what age group does your content reach the most, it then becomes easy for you to create content as now you know what age group you have to cater to, what gender will relate more to your content and many more stuff.
Conclusion
These 10 points are more or less about every social media platform, as people make these same mistakes no matter where they are posting. Social media can be used both for fun and promoting your content. You need to be careful of a few things mentioned in the above points, and you are good to shoot your shot. It is very important as a creator/influencer to be responsible while handling their social media. It is such a manipulative platform that even one bad or misleading post can completely ruin a person’s image on the platform and reality.
Please keep it simple. Try to be yourself. Don’t hurt people’s feelings in any way on social media. It is an escape route from reality for some people. Trust me, that is the last thing you want to do. The second last would be posting cringy stuff. Keep these things in mind, and there won’t be a better blessing than social media for you.
