14 Jan 10 Social Media Tactics Marketers Need to Stop in 2021

Posted at 16:27h in Social Media Trends by

A new year means a fresh start for your brand’s social media marketing strategy. As we enter 2021, it’s time to drop some of those bad social media habits and focus on tactics that are designed to drive real, meaningful results for your business.

10 Social Media Tactics Marketers Need to Stop in 2021

But what are some of those bad habits? There are certain tactics that marketers are implementing that they don’t even realize are hurting their business more than helping it. Because of that, I took the liberty of asking the experts of Ignite Social Media exactly what they want to see marketers stop doing this year (regarding social media marketing, specifically).

Here are 10 pieces of advice they had to share. We hope that you’ll take it to heart and reach out with any questions about how to improve your social strategy this year.

1. Unsolicited DMs

In the days of spam blockers, video doorbells, and other ways of avoiding solicitors, cold calling/emailing is majorly outdated. As social media experts, we know how to network properly to generate quality leads, and as humans, we know how unwelcome unsolicited, pushy advertisers are in personal spaces. So when someone claiming to be a social media expert pops up in my inbox without any other form of introduction or connection, they immediately lose credibility and tend to get blocked. The benefits of taking the time to find quality customers who are actually interested will always outweigh the speed and ease of making as many random connections as possible to see what sticks. If you’re having trouble finding quality customers, it’ll be worth it, in the long run, to go back to the drawing board and reevaluate what/how you’re selling.

2. In-authentic Brandstanding

In 2020 brands learned they couldn’t sit on the sidelines and finally got comfortable with taking a stand. While I expect that to continue as a result of consumer demand in 2021, brands need to make sure they are putting money and action behind the stands they are taking on social, and well before they take a stand.

3. Using Other Digital Marketing Tactics on Your Social Media Platforms

Given the pandemic, we’re seeing a lot of brands turn to social media marketing to try to keep sales going outside of their usual storefronts and this is new territory for a lot of brands.

It’s important to remember that social media is a separate marketing platform of its own and it’s probably going to take time to learn what works and what doesn’t work for your brand (compared to your other digital marketing strategies that you may have more data or success rates). You cannot rush quality or positive results, unfortunately.

This also means you may need to create new content specifically for social – instead of just trying to copy over a successful email campaign that always sells out a specific product and hoping it has the same results.

Your advertising budget will thank you for recognizing that social media marketing is its own entity and needs to be treated as such to work.

4. Publishing Excessive Amounts of Content

A consistent cadence is important but posting multiple times a day on each channel is a waste of resources for most industries/brands. You can still do some organic posting, but focus your efforts on creating high-quality pieces of content with strategically-placed paid media behind them to get more for your money.

5. Celebrating Random, Made-up Holidays

It would be great if marketers stopped celebrating random, made-up holidays like National Potato Salad Day. It’s a personal peeve of mine. They rarely end up driving strong results and often feel uninspired.

6. Posting About Holidays “Just Because”

I wish brands would stop posting about other holidays, too. “Happy New Year from xxx!” No one is coming to social media to hear that from your brand and no one will miss it if your brand doesn’t do it.

7. Fumbling and Delaying Responses

If 2020 taught us anything it’s that brands must be able to act in real-time. Proactively develop a clear strategy about when to pause, when to react, and what they stand for, along with community management guidelines.

8. Focusing on Growing Followers.

Stop asking people to follow you. Rather, invest in giving them a reason to want to follow you. Don’t be cringy. Don’t share that viral post unless it makes sense for your brand.

9. Fueling Calendar Based Editorial Calendars with High Volume Content Frequencies

Similar to what Meghan earlier shared, marketers need to hone in on what is performing and focus on quality over quantity of efforts to truly maximize their internal resources and external budgets in social.

10. Trying to “Go-Viral” or Jump on Every Trend

From creating a TikTok account to partnering with a big-name celebrity/influencer – if virality is your only goal then you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Instead, focus on humanizing your brand and creating a meaningful connection with your target audience on social media (including your reactive engagement strategy!). Create content that provides value to your audience, and in turn, people will take notice.

So there you have it, 10 social media tactics our team recommends you stop doing in 2021. If you disagree with any of the items above or want to seek clarity on why it’s no longer a best practice, contact our team today.

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