10 Facebook Marketing Mistakes You're Making

With almost 3 billion active users, Facebook is a massive pool of people to market to. By leveraging the correct marketing tactics, you can generate more subscribers, leads, and sales for your business.

However, it’s unwise to jump right in without studying the best Facebook marketing practices and how the Facebook algorithm works. Otherwise, you may be missing out on all the wonders this social media giant could do for your company’s recognition and growth by not getting the most out of your time.

Below, you’ll find 10 Facebook mistakes people often make during their marketing campaigns.

MISTAKE 1: Posting too little

Sorry to break it to you, but you’re not going to make it big with a single post. It simply doesn’t happen in real life. Instead, you should be focusing on developing a regular posting plan that involves posting at least 1-2 times per day.

Kindly refer to the previous subsection where we’ve shown you how to schedule your posts in advance. That way, you can prepare a whole month’s worth of content in advance and schedule it to be posted at predetermined intervals.

Alternatively, you can also choose to outsource your social media management altogether.

Whatever you do, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that quantity beats quality (it doesn’t). If anything, posting too frequently could end up confusing your followers or potentially even lead to Facebook not displaying your content. 5 posts per day is the upper limit.

Bear in mind that it’s crucial for you to post at least once per day. By doing so, you’ll train your audience to expect a post and come back to check your Facebook page every day. Don’t get lazy!

MISTAKE 2: Not knowing how to use hashtags properly

Simply put, hashtags are nothing but a fancy word for tags you can use to mark your posts and thus improve their visibility in the eyes of the Facebook algorithm and make it easier for people to discover your content.

We’ve written a comprehensive guide on how to use hashtags on social media, our full Facebook hashtags 2022 tutorial. Therefore, we won’t reiterate the entire thing. Here’s a quick recap instead.

First of all, you should make sure that any hashtags you decide to use are contextually relevant. Trying to cram in as many as possible whether they fit or not is one of the deadly Facebook mistakes that could infuriate your readers and get you on Facebook’s spam radar.

Secondly, pair them up with the intent behind your post. For example, if you’re raising awareness about an issue in our society, it’s fine to use these as well besides your typical keyword-based hashtags. Another example is using trending hashtags that reference an important event in the news. Hashtags can also be of seasonal nature, such as #christmas or #valentinesday.

Thirdly, mix things up. When marketing on Facebook, it’s easy to fall into a pattern. However, you should vary the number of hashtags you include on a case-per-case basis. On Facebook, the ideal number is between 0 and 3.

Lastly, know where to find the best hashtags for Facebook. Did you know that Ocoya can auto-generate them for you? This is a powerful feature that essentially takes all the guesswork out of the equation. The process is the same as the one we’ve outlined under the first subsection of this post. The only difference is that you need to click the # symbol under the text entry field if you want to auto-include them. That’s it!

MISTAKE 3: Underestimating the power of paid Facebook ads

It’s no secret that the Facebook algorithm has been favoring those who are willing to pay to participate as of late. If anything, the trend is intensifying, so if you’re not incorporating Facebook ads into your marketing regimen, you’re missing out. After all, Facebook needs to make money too. Currently, it’s estimated that organic posts will only reach up to 5% of your followers.

One of the Facebook mistakes people are making is assuming that nothing has changed in the last decade, particularly in the advertising space. Did you know that, originally, Business pages started out as Fan pages? While some changes are relatively minor, you should study the optimal Facebook advertising placements and give Facebook advertising policies a read.

The essentials, however, are still the same. You can still create a target audience based on your exact specifications, the kind that is the most likely to be interested in your products and services. In fact, you can make one right now based on their:

- Interests

- Behaviors

- Demographics

- And more!

This will position you well beyond other marketers who are making the mistake of wasting their budget on people who are unlikely to budge.

MISTAKE 4: Being just another faceless corporate entity

People come on social media to socialize. Go figure, right? The last thing on their mind is to view some corporate postings about a company. They are, however, interested in getting to know you – the company owner – better and see what you’re up to. They’re looking for things you have in common.

So don’t be shy! Tell them more about who you are, what you do, and what drives you in life. That’s what will get their attention and not some business-focused post with industry jargon. It’s all about forming an emotional connection with your reader as you delve into a softer and more personal side of you that resonates with your vision, ideals, values, and goals.

Are you working on a hobby project? Show them a peek behind the scenes. They love it when you reveal a personal side to your life. In their perception, you’ll appear as one of their friends rather than just another salesman. And as you probably know already, people are more likely to buy something from someone they like.

The bottom line is, be authentic and don’t try to come across as someone you’re not. If there’s something on your mind that’s bothering you, see if you can write a post about it and establish a connection with how it all relates to your work and the problems your company is committed to solving.

MISTAKE 5: Posting at the wrong time

It may not seem obvious at first, but aiming for the right Facebook post time matters a lot. Ask yourself this: at what time are your followers usually online? Unless you’re dealing with a bunch of night owls, posting in the middle of the night is probably a bad idea if you want to get your posts seen.

But how do you identify the optimal Facebook post time that works with your audience?

Some gurus might say you should go for a fixed time each day, but the reality is, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to nailing the perfect timing. In fact, it may very well differ based on your niche, audience demographics, and similar factors.

That’s the bad news. The good news is, there is a simple way to find out – you only need to take a look at the performance of your previous posts. There, you will see at what time your followers are the most active. Obviously, these will be the hours to schedule your posts around.

Can’t make it in time or can’t be bothered to post at a time that’s inconvenient for you? If only there was a way to schedule your posts on Facebook, right? Worry not – Ocoya to the rescue! Create an account if you haven’t already and let’s get the show on the road.

After arriving at the home page, you should see the Posts section in the sidebar to your left. Click it.

Notice the big Create New section? This is where you’ll schedule your next Facebook post.

Once inside the text editor, enter whatever you’d like to post. Consider adding some hashtags for better visibility (Ocoya can auto-generate them for you).

After the content is ready, select the social media platforms you’d like to publish it on. In this case, you’re going to select Facebook.

Find the Schedule button and click it.

A scheduling prompt will pop up from where you can schedule your post at a time that sits well with your audience. Enter your desired time and date and confirm your selection.

Finally, schedule your post to be posted at your chosen time and date. It truly is that simple!

MISTAKE 6: Over-focusing on getting more likes

While likes are an important factor in your Facebook marketing efforts, they’re not the end-all-be-all of your social media presence. If your entire Facebook marketing strategy revolves around getting more and more likes, you’re missing out on the bigger picture which is to provide valuable and educational content.

The end goal is to cultivate a following, a base of loyal fans who won’t think twice about buying the next thing you release. This is absolutely crucial. At the end of the day, it’s better to have 1000 raving fans than 10.000 disinterested lurkers who couldn’t care less about what you have to say or what your next big thing is.

Hopefully, by now you’ve also been able to figure out that buying Facebook likes is a waste of your resources, not to mention a potential red flag to the Facebook algorithm that could potentially flag your account as spam as a result. In most cases, these likes come from bot-created accounts with little to no user activity and your legitimate users will see right through the noise and be instantly turned off and leave.

MISTAKE 7: Selling too much and giving too little value

We hear you – you’re on Facebook to increase your sales and grow your brand. But try to place yourself in the shoes of your followers. Ask yourself: do their goals align with yours? Most likely, they are here for other reasons, so you’re going to have to adjust your approach accordingly.

Have you ever heard of the 80/20 rule? Also referred to as the Pareto principle, the basic premise is to have about every fifth of your posts do the selling and let the rest serve your audience by giving them useful information and advice, no strings attached. This will differentiate you from all the other marketers who are only out there to make a quick buck while blatantly ignoring the needs of the customer base they serve.

The gist of marketing on Facebook is to build a relationship with your readers. Yes, every once in a while you need to promote your products and services too, but try to make it subtle and in a way that adds something of value. For example, you could give them 20% off of their next purchase as a way to say thank you for following you on the platform. Feel free to get creative with this.

MISTAKE 8: Not incorporating visuals into your posts

Most people tend to respond well to visuals, much better than they do to plain text. So instead of focusing on making your posts long (as is typically the case when writing SEO content, for example), pop in some multimedia elements like images and videos.

Most people tend to scroll through their feed and will only stop to read the whole thing if an image manages to catch their attention. The key point to remember is that they need to be contextually relevant to what your post is about. That way, you will also help the Facebook algorithm classify it accordingly.

Have you ever noticed the “Facebook image may contain” mark under an image? That’s how smart these algorithms are. They will know exactly what your image is about, which helps Facebook categorize a post and display it to those who are likely to be interested in seeing this type of content.

Speaking of Facebook post types, consider doing image-only posts from time to time as these tend to perform well across every niche. Don’t forget to mark them as Photo Posts to increase their reach.

In case you’re looking for quality photos to post, royalty free creative commons image databases like Pixabay and Unsplash have plenty of these (just make sure they come with the appropriate license so you won’t be violating any copyrights).

MISTAKE 9: Thinking you’re limited to sharing your articles one time only

When people share an article they wrote by linking to it on social media, for whatever reason, they seem to think that posting it on Facebook twice is a violation of some unwritten code. In reality, it’s nothing more than a self-imposed limitation that’s holding your Facebook marketing campaigns back from reaching their full impact.

On Facebook, posting old posts is completely justified if you’re able to put a new spin on an old topic. Don’t just copy and paste the previous version exactly as is – try to find a new angle instead. For instance, instead of saying “10 Facebook marketing mistakes” once more, you could say “these 10 things are holding you back from succeeding on Facebook as a marketer” or something similar. It helps to reference something you wrote in the article if possible.

In fact, a lot of Facebook marketers shuffle their old content and re-post it every couple of months using the exact strategy we’ve outlined above. Since it makes for a great impact and costs very little time, there’s no reason not to.

MISTAKE 10: Not using Facebook Audience Insights

How are your fans discovering your posts? Don’t stumble in the dark – use Facebook Audience Insights instead. That way, you will be able to eliminate the guesswork from your Facebook marketing strategy and model your future posts after what has already been proven to perform well.

At the same time, you will be able to ditch what isn’t working and concentrate your efforts on the kind of posts that give you a good return on your time investment. After all, time is money, so treat it as such!

When it comes to individual parameters, make sure to give the Friends of Friends metric a look. This will give you an insight into how many friends your followers have, thus painting a clearer picture of how many people your marketing campaigns could potentially reach.

Although none of these Facebook mistakes are likely to sink you all on their own, the more you make, the greater the chances your Facebook marketing campaigns won’t bring you the results you’re looking for. There’s no need to be under the pressure to get everything right all the time; as long as you avoid most of the mistakes novice Facebook marketers tend to make, you’ll be well positioned to grow your brand and sales on this leading social media platform.