If you spend any amount of time on TikTok, you’ve probably seen the trend going around where professionals share the top five things they would never do after working in their prospective field. As a social media agency, we’ve been working with brands for years consulting them on the best (and worst) practices when it comes to social media marketing.
Because we’re not in the business of gatekeeping, here are our top five things we’d never do when it comes to content strategy:
#1 – Buy followers. We understand the struggle of trying to grow your following and what hitting that 5k or 10k mark can mean for your account. However, this is a short-term strategy because it will actually decrease your engagement. As we’re continuing to learn, the Instagram algorithm favors posts with high engagement rates but a high follower count doesn’t always mean stronger insights. With a strategic plan, you’ll hit your target audience and grow a following with real accounts who will actually engage with your content through views, likes and comments.
#2 – Have a presence on every social media platform. Despite what any critics might argue, this is the fastest way to burn out. Depending on the type of business you have, who your target audience is, and what you’re selling, focusing your energy and resources on only one social platform can actually be more productive. To determine which platform is best for your brand, think through the answers to these questions, which platform are your target customers most active on? And, which platform is best for your brand messaging? The key here is it’s better to invest 100% on one platform versus 20% into several.
#3 – Focus too much on rapid growth. In the early days of Instagram, growth was happening more quickly because there were so few brands or creators posting quality content. Now, the game has changed and the amount of active users has increased. The competition, so to speak, has grown but don’t let that discourage you. Growth happens organically when you trust the process with a strategic plan.
#4 – Failing to be social on social media. It’s all in the name. Instagram’s purpose is to engage with your audience in a social way by sparking conversations through comments and DM’s. Think about using it as an avenue to build trust and personally engage with your followers.
#5 – Take social media too seriously. Of course, growing your business is something we take seriously but social media should be a place to display your brand’s personality and have fun doing it. It’s more than OK to try news things, see what works and pivot when it doesn’t quite hit the mark. Your followers will connect with real, authentic content that isn’t stale or overly scripted.
There you have it, the top five things we would never consult our clients to do when promoting their brand on social media. We understand this can feel like a beast to maintain and the trends are always coming and going. This is why Campfire exists – we’re the expert guides keeping up with all things social so you can focus on what’s most important.
