3 Common Social Media Mistakes, How to Avoid Them?
- Ayub Elias
- Jul 14
- 3 min read
One of the things I love most about digital marketing is that it constantly challenges us to rethink how we connect with our audience. There’s no single “right” way to do things—but after reviewing dozens of profiles, I’ve seen the same issues come up over and over again: lack of structure, unclear goals, inconsistency, and visuals that miss the mark.
Social media has become the fastest and most widely used form of communication. From casual users to full-time professionals, we’re all in it.
What is social media, really?
Think of a fishing net. Every knot is a connection. Social networks work the same way—they tie people together through shared interests, values, or geography. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, or TikTok are just the tools.
What truly matters is how we use them to connect.
Now that we’ve clarified what social media is and why it matters, let’s go back to the common mistakes. If we’re honest, we’ve all made them—or will at some point.
Each business is different, and that’s why there’s no universal formula. What works for one audience might not work for another.
Effectively leveraging social media can help businesses build strong brand awareness, engage with customers and drive meaningful results. - Vikram Joshi
As Vikram Joshi explains in his blog post The Power of Social Media in Modern Marketing, published in Forbes.com, social media is a powerful tool to build connections through authentic interests. He doesn’t list common mistakes per se, but by focusing on what works—collaborations, user-centric strategies, and clear objectives—he points us in the right direction.
Quality does matter
We’ve all heard the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words.” It may be cliché, but it still holds up—especially in a space where people scroll, judge, and decide in seconds.
But quality isn’t just about a nice-looking photo. It’s about whether the content serves a purpose. For me, quality means asking: does this actually help the person seeing it?
If it doesn’t connect, inform, or solve something for your audience, it doesn’t matter how pretty it is. It simply won’t work.
Data-driven strategy
Numbers don’t lie. No matter how polished your content is—if the data says it doesn’t work for your audience, it won’t.
We often focus so much on how things look that we forget to listen to the data. But metrics are your best friends in this process.
As Greenbook.org puts it in Best Practices for Social Media Research , continuously analyzing your audience’s behavior is key to understanding what really resonates. The numbers are there—just waiting to be used.
Segmentación. Una palabra clave.
Segmentar es, para mí, una de las bases de cualquier estrategia en redes sociales. No todo el contenido es para todos. Aunque la mayoría de las plataformas no permiten hacer publicaciones orgánicas dirigidas por país, sí puedes crear contenido general que conecte con un grupo específico, aunque lo vea una audiencia más amplia. Y si decides invertir en pauta, entonces sí puedes delimitar quién ve qué, ya sea por zona geográfica, intereses o demografía. Esa es una de las grandes ventajas del marketing digital: mostrarle a cada quien lo que realmente le interesa.
Segmentation: the unsung hero
In my opinion, segmentation is one of the pillars of any successful social media strategy. Not all content is for everyone. Most platforms don’t let you target organic posts by country, but you can still design content that appeals to specific groups—even if it’s visible to all.
And if you’re running paid ads, that’s where you can get more precise: geographic, demographic, and interest-based targeting lets you show the right message to the right people. That’s the real power of digital marketing.
The silent mistake: no interaction
One of the most common (and overlooked) mistakes is not engaging. When a brand only posts but doesn’t respond, it stops feeling human. It becomes just a display case.
Each platform has a different user base and content behavior. What works on one won’t necessarily work on another. Study the space, understand your audience, and adapt accordingly.
Is valuable content even a thing?
Of course it is—but value depends on who’s watching. We all belong to some kind of audience. So ask yourself: What kind of content do I consider valuable?
I always go back to the Coca-Cola “New Coke” case. It was a total flop. People demanded the original version back—and they got it. That’s what value looks like: it’s defined by the audience, not the brand.
There’s no magic formula. It all comes down to listening, learning, and responding. Maybe next time we can talk about how to make content feel more natural—less forced and more real.
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