Social Media experts reveal 10 big mistakes they've made so that you don't!

A Social media company wrote an article listing the top 10 mistakes they've made so that we don't have to! Daring, isn't it? The article claims that these mistakes has not only costed them reach and engagement but even fans and customers! Wondering what the mistakes were? Here's a quick list:

1. Focusing on quantity over quality
2. Being on all social media platforms
3. Posting the same content across platforms
4. Using only landscape images and videos
5. Sharing only our own content
6. Not curating user-generated content
7. Not uploading videos to social media platforms
8. Not targeting specific audience for our content
9. Not boosting the right posts
10. Not replying to questions on social (fast enough)

I've worked on a few social media campaigns and am guilty of 2,3, 9 and even 10! How about you?

Interested to know more? Read the detailed article here.

Link: 

https://blog.bufferapp.com/social-media-mistakes?utm_content=buffer85840&utm_medium=buffer_social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=buffer_updates

More Useless Facebook Advertising Spending

Good News - The US State Department is no longer spending money on social media advertising

Bad News - The US State Department spent $630,000 on two advertising campaigns to expand the number of fans on its four Facebook pages.

Now, the State Department is a part of the federal government that is responsible for international relations with other countries.  Specifically, it takes ownership of our embassies around the world and is run by the Secretary of State.

While this spending did increase the number of "fans" of the State Department's Facebook pages by ~2.3M from under 0.2M, it did not have the impact that the State Department was looking for.  Specifically, "the number of those actually engaging with each page was just over two percent. By "engaging," the IG refers to "liking," "sharing," or "commenting on any item within the previous week."

Of course, just because someone "likes" your page, doesn't mean it will show up in their news feed.  Facebook now has a DUAL "expense" process.  For an advertiser/brand/government entity, they first must spend $$ to advertise and gain followers. Then, they must spend $$ to make sure their followers see the things they post.  Unlike with your friends, Facebook only shows your "page" posts to your "fans" if you pay for them to see it.  This can be quite expensive, as the State Department has just learned.

In defending its advertising spending, The State Department noted, "a posting on cyber censorship in March 2013 reached 234,000 Facebook users on its first day; only about 20,000 would have received the item on their news feed without advertising,"

Clearly this type of spending will be attacked politically.