10 Social Media Mistakes How To Avoid Them by Blessing Abeng
10 Social Media Mistakes How To Avoid Them by Blessing Abeng
10 Social Media Mistakes How To Avoid Them by Blessing Abeng
Blessing Abeng
10 Social Media Mistakes Blessing
& How to Avoid them Abeng
Table of Contents
Bonus .................................................................................................... 29
www.blessingabeng.com
In this concise book, I’ll share the mistakes
and solutions that will ensure you do not
make these mistakes in the new year.
Author's Note
The Birth of
this Book
In 2019, I wasn’t quite as popular on Social media is a magnified version
social media. I had worked with of actual human behavior because
multinationals and built great the internet has made the world a
brands and social pages across small global village; this is why I
industries. I had worked in agencies believe that the advice I’m about to
and worked with brands like Dark share here will be timeless and
and Lovely, Heritage Bank, and a relevant for the next five years.
host of others, but my expertise
never really reflected on my social Read it. Digest it and pick one thing
media pages. to implement every month. I have
also inserted guides along the way
This 2020, I committed to teaching to make your experience even more
people what I know and sharing practical!
more valuable content with people
who need it for free. In a short To make the journey so much easier,
period, my community grew by over I created a guide/ extra resource for
17,000. I learned a lot as a personal each chapter. Some are free, and
brand, and I have learned so much some are not-so-free. This book is a
managing the social pages of loaded resource.
businesses (small, medium, and
large) within and outside Nigeria.
Based on questions and
conversations I have had within
one-on-one consultations, all the
training I have organized so far, and
from my amazing community. You deserve this gift.
I have noticed patterns and Implement it.
common mistakes people make in
managing their social media
Cherish it.
pages. In this concise book, I’ll share Share it.
the mistakes and solutions that will
ensure you do not make these
mistakes in the new year.
Not knowing
yourself
This mistake is the most common mistake I have seen people make on
social media. They are joining social media platforms without first getting a
foundational understanding of self.
Mistake 1
Not knowing
yourself
This mistake goes beyond personal This has to do with who you are
brands. As a business, inside and outside. It also
encompasses what you represent
-Who is your business? and project. It is your unique
-How would you define your brand? identifier, features that people can
use to describe you.
I find that self-awareness is a very
integral part of branding. I think 3 Key things to note: “Knowledge of
branding and self-awareness go self,” “in relation to your audience”
hand in hand, and it is the first step that makes you “recognisable.”
in branding. If you’ve ever listened to
any of my teachings about branding, This short definition means your
I think three key pillars come identity consists of you, your
together to make up a brand - both audience, and elements that make
personal and business brands. you recognisable.
Mistake One
Not knowing
yourself
Not knowing
your audience
However, if you do not know your audience, you will probably never
experience these things. For example, If you were @angela and you had a
brilliant idea to start a socks business. It may not be very wise to change
@angela to @stockingsandmore.
Why?
Your friends followed @angela to keep up with what’s happening in your life,
not to be bombarded with socks pictures and tips for caring for socks!
Mistake 2
Not knowing
your audience
Many people struggle with social Oxygen is free but will you pay for it,
media because they do not know nope! However, people in the
who they are creating content for! hospital who are on life support and
Are you making the content for your cannot breathe by themselves will
friends? Or for your colleagues? Or willingly pay for the oxygen tanks at
for children? Or for who exactly?If I whatever price is presented to them.
ask you, “who is your target If you were going to the moon, you’d
customer?” Please don’t say pay for oxygen.
everybody because that means
nobody.
I have also realized that you may
Your customer must check 3 boxes: have an audience (people who have
a problem you can solve) of 100
They must need a solution to the people, but only 2-10 will be
problem you solve customers.
Mistake two
Not knowing
your audience
Not having
goals
“Goal Clarity” is so essential, yet so few people set social media goals. If you
have a business social media page or a personal brand, you need to have
social media goals! It’s as though we all join social media because our
friends are there or because we attended a seminar, and they said, “you
need to be on social media.” We never really think about “ What do I really
want to get from social media? Why am I joining? What platform is best for
me!
You need to be clear on what you hope to benefit from social media. Do you
want sales, growth, awareness, engagement? Be super-specific. Use the
SMART goal strategy to ensure you articulate it well.
Not having
goals
Have social media goals Don't just be on social media platforms and not
know why you are there or what your goals for that month or year are. You'll
require different strategies for different goals. Be very clear and realistic. e.g.,
I want to increase my engagement by 20%, or I want to increase my followers
by 1000.
Also, ensure that the social media platforms you pick match your goals. It’s
okay for your goals to be in line with your customers’ goals, but by asking
yourself “why” at least three times, you’ll get to the root of your goals.
Your goals must benefit you and your audience. Look out for the mutual
benefit:
Being confused
about your niche
You can use the ikigai formula to niche down by finding the middle point
where these factors meet: your skills, your knowledge, passion, needs of your
target audience, and their willingness to pay. Remember that you don't need
to monetize all your skills and passions.
Being confused
about your niche
Mistake 4
Being confused
about your niche
If you are still very young, don’t Then, she shared Fenty with us, and
bother niching—experiment and we transferred that trust to Fenty.
document your journey. Tell us what Pick one as a foundation and get us
you learned, how you applied it, why to trust you at that one, then expand.
you found it interesting, and stuff like
that. You can only niche when you The Chris Brown Strategy: Chris
have several things to niche from. Brown can draw, dance, act, sing,
You can’t build an ikigai Venn gosh... the man can do many things
diagram based solely on your but guess what? He is an entertainer.
passion. You need skill, knowledge, They are all connected. You can find
passion, viability, and value to all a thread that connects most of the
play a part. dots. Introspect, you'll notice that one
thing may connect most of the
[Read this for context] things you do. Find the connection.
Disconnect between
your bio & offering
Your Bio should define you in the simplest way that communicates your
personality and value. Except you are Mark Zuckerberg, where your name is
already strong, you may want to do better. Look at the bios of Kim
Kardashian, Richard Branson, My Bio (check out my press kit). Let the
message be consistent. On all your platforms, you should have a consistent
bio. Something that pitches who you are to anyone. I call this your unique
value proposition:
Disconnect between
your bio & offering
Who,
What
and Why.
Your subtitle: this part is supposed to be for your name (especially if it’s
different from your handle). It is also the searchable part of Instagram.
You can use this to your advantage by adding your code area. E.g., you
can see "branding whiz" in mine. It just means if people search for
branding, they’ll find me.
The other 6 are “Who you are, Your Inbound Link, Your Link in Bio, Your Contact
Details, Your Highlights, and the first 3-9 posts on your feed.” I explain them in
detail in a blog post.
Disconnect between
your bio & offering
So many people miss this. Not every post appeals to everyone at your target
audience. They are all at different points in their buyer journey. Some don’t
know you, and Some will never buy even if they know and love you. Some
need a lot of convincing, and Some need a little convincing. Some are about
to buy. They need different kinds of content to appeal to them.
The audience in the awareness phase may not know your name but they
know their problems. They will Google their problems and search for solutions
everywhere. When they do that, will you pop up? Create content that satisfies
them depending on where they are in their journey. When they Google their
questions or problems, ensure you have answers that solve their problems
and tie to your solution.
Not being
human
Whether you are a business or a person, chances are, there’s a human being
at the other end of the phone liking the post as a business or individual
account. If you manage a business account, you are a person. Chances are
you’ll like content that you resonate with or you feel resonates with the
business.
The point is, you the human... make the decision and taps the like button. This
is why I believe so much in human-to-human (H2H) marketing. Not bots...
humans. No one wants to engage with robots on social media. We want to
engage with human beings. Don’t get overwhelmed by B2B or B2C. Don’t
overthink it. Be human.
Not being
human
This means you don’t have to be You can take people on a journey
perfect all the time. You’re allowed to and give them personalized
have a beautiful BTS video. You can experiences. It means you don’t have
show imperfections, and admit to be a robot on social!
mistakes.
You can speak in human terms and
You can have a bad day. You can call people by their names and have
make one mistake. You can share personality and just be a human
and tell your story! You can be being!As a business, think... if your
imperfect every once in a blue moon. business was a human, who would it
It means you can be relatable and be? Not sure about how to be
use simple words. human?
Not being
consistent
We view consistency as a streak and a big feat that we can never achieve!
We forget that we are consistent at other things in our lives like eating,
sleeping, bathing, talking, even brushing!
In many talks I have given, I have shared how brushing my teeth helped me
see consistency in a whole new light.
Not being
consistent
You brush your teeth everyday right? You miss a day or two but you wake
up the next day and keep going. No
I am assuming you said yes! one is consistent 100% of the time!
What happens when you miss a day, We all miss one day but what makes
as in, you forget to brush for one you great is picking yourself up and
day... what happens? continuing, instead of stopping
completely.
Do you stop brushing forever?
To handle the pressure to be
A part of me hopes you said "No" to consistent, I find that having systems
that last question! work heavily for me.
Build habits, create processes, create Read some more tips that have
systems, that help you continue after helped me stay consistent over the
you miss one day. years.
My Consistency Hacks
Not engaging
enough
It’s not enough to create content and disappear. If everyone did that, no one
would ever like your post. You need to engage with the people who connect
with that content and the keywords related to that content. Engagement is
the key to building social relationships.
Engage with people in your comments and DMs. When you use stickers
like polls, quizzes, questions, etc., you can follow up in the DMs because
they are great conversation starters.
Not engaging
enough
Not
collaborating
First define the purpose or goal for the collaboration. Once you've defined
your purpose, you need to identify the kind of people who can help you fulfill
the goals. Someone with shared values whom you can offer value to and
receive value from. Think about people who have relevant experience and
skills, or contribute different perspectives that would bring value to your
audience and brand. Go beyond vanity metrics.
Not
collaborating
Build a relationship. Don’t wait till you Don’t beg, don’t be desperate. Be
need someone before you connect aware that they are allowed to say
with them. Invest time in building a no and that’s okay.
relationship.
Don’t burn the bridge, keep nurturing
Get to know them, sow the seeds the relationship till another
and be deliberate. Interact with them opportunity presents itself.
online or offline. Take the person out
for lunch, comment on their posts, Don't be afraid to go outside your
respond to their stories, be friendly. niche. Your audience indeed loves
Be equipped with things they’ve done your tips and hacks for their life and
and build familiarity. Add value to career. But, they probably have other
them. Be genuine. interests as well.
Not repurposing
content
Expand your listicles: Make each item on the list a full article. E.g. I could write
a whole article about how to expand your listicles or carousels. In summary,
listicles are just numbered points you make about a topic. If you taught
about 5 ways to Create Content, pick number 1, and expand on it in a
different post. Don’t repeat the exact message, the exact same way
everywhere. Host a live, e-event, clubhouse, or webinar: Discuss a top-
performing post by hosting a webinar or a live video. You could turn it up a
notch by inviting an expert to discuss it with you. It might get your audience
to engage with you on a deeper level.
Space out your repurposed content, master your voice & tone across
platforms, invest time in creating templates, re-invent yourself every once in
a while, use easy tools like Canva, Veed, Later to automate your process.I
could go on about this, but I already wrote extensively about this on Cassie
Daves' blog.
If you had a pack of biscuits in your hand and a hungry child passed by you.
This child is evidently hungry, you can see the lines of the child’s rib cage.
Would you deny the child food because you are an introvert?
I really hope you said no!
What if you were sitting beside someone and the person clenched their chest
and slipped into cardiac arrest, will you call for help?
I really hope you said yes.
The thing is, in moments of life and death, being an introvert or extrovert
doesn’t really matter. It’s about saving lives and doing good.
How it Connects:
It’s okay to be an introvert. Yet, no one says… I will starve hungry children
because I am an introvert. The truth is, the solution you present may be the
source of someone’s livelihood. I am sure Mark Zuckerberg when he built
Facebook never envisaged that people will charge money to grant access to
their Facebook groups or Influencer Marketing will be born out of Instagram.
Your destiny is tied to someone else’s and you can make a big difference in
their lives by sharing your solution with them.
Social media does not have to be about sharing your day-to-day life. You
can have your small exclusive community and add value. You can be
faceless like “Anonymous” and add value. You can harness your
“introvertness” as a superpower to create a different kind of community on
social media. There isn’t one way to run your social media. Break the rules,
bend the rules, be the rules! It doesn’t matter too much. Just make a
difference in someone’s life.
Thank
you
If you are probably too scared to start, defeat the fear of starting by reading
this short guide I put together in collaboration with Seth Godin: The Guide to
Starting and Quitting.
Read it here.
Thank you for taking the time to read this book that I created with love. It’s not
enough to read this book and feel super-pumped. Pick one thing you've
learned and go do it.
I hope these tips help you strategize your social media better next year. If you
need someone to talk to for an hour so we can plan next year together and
gain clarity, I’m available for an hour, book here.