Social media is not a quick fix. It doesn’t replace traditional marketing and advertising methods. At times, it is like a big puzzle with many little pieces. You know those puzzles, where all the pieces are similar-looking and it takes time to find that one piece that will fit just right so you can move onto the next puzzle?

That is social media – a big puzzle. To grow your business, social media needs a strategy instead of casting a wide net and hoping you might catch a customer or two.

Here are the most common ‘missing pieces’ I’ve noticed with social media.

Chasing Algorithms ─ It’s impossible to figure out Facebook’s algorithms. You cannot outsmart them, you can’t beat them.  There is no denying Facebook organic reach is decreasing, but if you want Facebook to work well for you, you’ll need to learn how to use it properly for your business to attract your audience.

Playing All Day – It’s easy to get sucked into checking for messages, what to create for dinner, browse online shopping and playing games all day. Use your time appropriately. Don’t burn out online. And really, do you need to watch every cat video that pops on your screen?

Not Delivering on Contests – If you offer a contest on social media, please make sure you follow through and provide the winner with a prize. It can be damaging to your brand when you don’t deliver what you promise.

No Consistency – Social media needs to be used often and consistently. Don’t over post one day and then not post again for long periods of time. Consistency matters.

Being Salesy – Long gone are the days of the salesy salespeople. Social media is a place where you cultivate relationships with your audience. It actually turns customers away when you choose to use your social media just to sell, sell, sell. They want to hear from you even when you don’t have a product or service to sell.

Nothing Original ─ The great part of social media is that you don’t need to create 100% of the content you share online. Of course, you’ll need to create material that is original and emphasizes why you are the expert in your industry. Without this crucial piece, customers can have doubt that you are better than the competition.

No Social Media Icons ─ It’s important to have your social media icons listed on your website. This allows people to know you are on social media and makes it easy for them to find you.

Not Understanding Automation – Automation can be a wonderful tool to schedule your social media. Notice I said the word “schedule”. That’s right. It schedules, it doesn’t help you engage and interact with your audience. Engaging with your audience is always more important than automating your social media.

Not Answering ─ A big turnoff is when you don’t answer comments, negative responses or even favorable reviews on social media. It has the same effect as having customers in your store and not talking to them when they ask a question or praise how much they love your store.

Thinking It Is Easy ─ Social media takes work. It takes a strategy. When you treat social media as a dart board and hope that you’ll throw the dart to hit the bullseye, it will almost always fail.

Posting Whatever ─ Your social media needs to be important to your audience. If you just post for the sake of posting, you may miss and not understand what is important to your audience and what makes them engage with you on social media.      

Not Believing ─ A lot of people have the mindset that social media doesn’t work. Social media works. I see big and small successes every day. When you prepare a strategy and have the proper tactics to fulfill your objectives, it will work.                   

I would love to hear your thoughts. What do you feel are the most common missing social media pieces?