I’ll begin with the full disclosure that social media expert I am not. Nor am I an influencer, even though I’ve done moderately okay with Haunt Jaunts’ social media over the years. At least by my standards. I’ve never amassed tens or hundreds of thousands of followers, so I’m probably making more social media mistakes than strides.
And, honestly, I’ve pretty much given up on socials at this point. They take up more time than they’re worth.
However, I’m still on a couple, and I’m a pretty astute user. I recognize not only what I could improve upon, but also what others are doing right. Here are the eight biggest social media mistakes most people (including myself) make, and how to fix them.
1. Being Too Self-Centered
Early on, whether it was when social networking first emerged, or later as I ventured onto new platforms, one mistake I commonly made was focusing too much on myself. Which can come in a variety of forms, including appearing too narcissistic or too “sell-y” (for lack of a more sophisticated word).
In my case, I’m not really a “look at me” narcissist type. I was, however, guilty of being too focused on trying to sell someone on reading a blog post or just simply checking out my site.
Never to the extent I only posted the same thing over and over again on Twitter or Facebook or whatever. I’m sure you’ve seen those people who only post, “Buy my book.”
The Fix: I learned to have more of a balance and follow more of a 4:1 formula. That is to say, for every one thing of mine I shared, I made sure to share at least four things from other sources/people.
But this mostly applied to sites like Facebook and Twitter, and their algorithms have shifted a lot in recent years. This doesn’t necessarily apply (or work) for them anymore since followers aren’t seeing every bit of content you post like they once were.
Still, it’s not good form to be “me, me, me” IRL or online, so keeping a 4:1 ratio in mind when you post is still a decent habit to get into. (Or practice even when you’re having a conversation with someone. Ask them to share four things about themself before you share something about yourself.)
2. Expecting Socials to Drive Traffic Your Way
Once upon a time, at the dawn of the social media era, yes. You could expect socials to drive traffic your way. Both Facebook and Twitter are prime examples. You used to be able to get pretty good traffic from them if you shared a link to an external site.
These days? Not so much. They’re in the business to make money. They do that from advertisers, which means they need to keep users on their sites as long as possible, not send them somewhere else.
The Fix: Going viral can still happen, sure. Especially if you post something that gets people talking. Or, rather, commenting, and sharing. Algorithms pick up on that. Be as engaging as possible.
3. Not Being Self-Centered Enough
Wait, what? Didn’t I start with “don’t be self-centered”?
I sure did.
But you can also take a page from the playbook of social media sites like I talked about in #2. Your goal is to either keep people on your site or wanting to check out your product, service, etc.
The Fix: If you have a site, find ways to make it as engaging and/or useful as possible. Post regularly. Run polls (either daily, weekly, or monthly, whatever’s manageable for you). Launch new products continually. Offer specials. Whatever will draw people back, or have the ability to, employ it!
4. FOMO, a.k.a. Getting Used by Social Media Rather Than Using It
First, it was MySpace. Then everyone seemed to jump to Facebook. Then Twitter. But soon, everyone realized, “Holy crap, this takes up a lot of time. I’m posting the same thing to both places. How can I automate?”
Since then, new social media has come along, like Instagram, Snapchat, and now TikTok. That’s not even counting sites like Pinterest, Reddit, and the now defunct (but which I loved) StumbleUpon. It’s easy to understand how social media jobs sprung up (for those who could afford someone to take care of all that). It really is a full-time job trying to manage them all.
But “all” is the problem and definitely a huge social media mistake I made in the beginning: thinking I had to be on every platform because I was afraid of missing out. I’m wiser now.
The Fix: Knowing a couple of crucial things, namely your objective and your analytics, can help free up your time. You don’t have to have a presence on every social media site out there —only the ones that help you accomplish your goal(s). Are you trying to sell something? Engage with customers? Drive traffic to your site? Which platforms help you accomplish that?
If some don’t, drop them. Or at least don’t invest your time heavily into them if you feel you must be on them.
Seriously, wouldn’t you rather spend your time and energy where it nets you the most results? Not to mention frees you up to create, be it videos, products, posts, books, art, music or whatever else it is you’re trying to put out in the world and get people to notice?
5. Auto-posting on Multiple Social Media Platforms
Oof. This social media mistake is so easy to make. As mentioned above, who has time to post on each and every site? If there’s a way to do it all at once, why not?
Because it looks lazy and can be aggravating to users when links that are clickable on one platform (like Facebook) are not clickable on others (like Instagram). The last thing you want to do is leave a bad impression and alienate the people you’re trying to attract. And, trust me, posting unclickable links frustrates people.
The Fix: Don’t share links in posts on places (like Instagram and TikTok) that aren’t clickable. Take the time to post individually, especially if there’s some sort of a CTA (Call To Action) involved.
If you want people to click a link, use sites like Tailwind to create a Smart.bio link in your profile. In your post, encourage people to click the link on your bio to read the story or check out your product or video, etc. It looks more professional and doesn’t turn people off.
6. Discounting the Laziness Factor
People are lazy. They don’t want to want to do any more than they have to. If you’re asking them to do something, you better make it as easy as possible for them to click, buy, watch, etc.
Which is another reason auto-posting across multiple platforms is a bad idea. Again, if people come across something that frustrates their efforts (like coming across a link they can neither click or copy or paste in an Instagram post), they’re going to give up.
Sure, if it really, really, really interests them, they might make the extra effort. That’s only going to happen about .0001% of the time. (Yes, that’s a completely made-up stat, but I’m willing to bet it’s not far off.)
Because people are lazy.
The Fix: Make it as easy as possible for people to do whatever it is you’re wanting them to do.
7. Presuming How to Spend Other People’s Time
During the height of lockdowns when I worked for Netflix Life, so many listicle posts started with, “Since you don’t have anything better to do, why not watch these X movies or TV shows?”
Our editor quickly realized how presumptuous and off-putting that was. It seemed novel at first, but not only were the majority of people on our site doing it but so was just about every other site.
It’s the same on social media. So many content creators use it —whether “it” is Facebook, Twitter, Insta, etc— trying to promote themselves and wanting people to listen to their latest podcast episode, watch their latest YouTube video, buy their latest book or product, etc.
But they fail to appreciate what people are doing on whatever the platform is that they’re on: which is likely killing time, being nosey and snooping on someone, or avoiding doing something else. They’re there for a reason. Don’t presume they want to go anywhere else.
Also, realize you’re not alone. Millions of other content creators are doing the exact same thing, wanting their followers to check out this or that.
The Fix: First and foremost, respect people’s time. Recognize it’s important. Then employ the Wolf of Wall Street Approach.
You know the end where Jordan Belfort asks a group of people in an audience to sell him a pen? They all focus on the pen. They point out how sleek it is, or focus on some other physical trait.
That’s what they all got wrong and why he quickly snatched it up and moved on to the next person for them to give it a go.
What can a pen do for someone? That’s what Belfort was looking for. Create a need for the pen.
No one employed the obvious, which was to make that pen useful. Ask someone to write something, and by the way do they need something to write with? Here’s a pen.
If you’re going to spend someone else’s time, make sure they know the use you can offer them for spending it with you.
8. Letting Social Media Define You
One of the biggest social media mistakes is thinking you have to have a big social media following. Why? What’s it going to get you? At the end of the day, it’s just bragging rights.
The Fix: Don’t let your vanity get in the way. Employ the Field of Dreams Method: Build it first, then they’ll come.
Any celebrity, any major newspaper, any big network or site that has a big social media following was generally “something” before they were their “@” on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. The one exception may be YouTube, where many YouTubers grow massive followings for posting great content.
Still, in general, the social media following is a by-product of people wanting to spend more time with a person or brand. They want to keep up with the latest, either events, offers, news, or what have you. Again, it comes down to the use you provide to them.
And for the love of God, remember: you don’t need any social media site. They all need you.