Social media mistakes to avoid

Brands use social media channels to gain followers - the more followers you have, the more sales you're bound to make. But it's important to bear in mind that if your social media posts fall short of the mark, you're more likely to lose followers with a consequent downturn in sales. Here are 8 social media mistakes to avoid:

1. Too many sales messages - 'sell sell sell!' is such a turn off

2. Not creating a brand personality - talk about your ethics and people

3. Not addressing negative comments - potential customers are watching how well (or otherwise) you deal with complaints

4. Using the same post across all your channels - you can use the same subject, but adapt each post to suit each platform's followers

5. Putting the wrong message on the wrong channel - there's no point putting a post aimed at LinkedIn followers on TikTok, it'll simply sink without trace

6. Not engaging enough - don't just like people's comments, engage with your audiences by asking questions and also commenting on your followers' posts

7. Not using video content - short-form video is all the rage so have fun and use it

8. Using low quality photos and videos - social media is very forgiving so you don't have to use professional photography or videography, but make sure your images are in focus, the graphics you use look good (using tools such as Canva), and there aren't any spelling mistakes.