According to Entrepreneur magazine, nearly 97% of Fortune 500 companies use social media. But you don’t have to be a big business to capitalize on the advantages of social media marketing. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn are great for helping small business owners connect with current and potential clients. The challenge is to keep your audience engaged with your brand while they are being flooded with posts, reels, and tweets from other sources. How can you stay on the right track? Here are eight social media mistakes to avoid as you build your follower base.

#1 – Making Every Post a Sales Pitch

Most users don’t want to be bombarded with “buy now” messaging. The occasional promotional post is fine, but your content should focus on informing and inspiring your client base—think trip photos and videos, destination highlights, important travel news, and helpful tips.

#2 – Overposting

When it comes to content, quantity is important, but not if it means sacrificing the quality of your posts. Start by aiming for one well-crafted post per platform, per day. After establishing a routine, you might set a goal of two or three quality posts per day. More than that is likely to be unecessary.

#3 – Sharing Without Selecting

Not all information is good information. Before you share or repost from another source, make sure it is credible and not likely to draw potential clients away from booking with your agency. Many headlines are deceiving and designed to be clickbait. Never share an article unless you’ve read it thoroughly.

#4 – Never Posting Original Content

If your updates are primarily retweets and shares from other people and sites, you are essentially telling your followers that your agency has little to offer. Creating original content tells the audience more about you and showcases the benefits of being your client. On occasions when you decide to share content from another source, add your personal comments and insight along with the post.

#5 – Automatically Cross-Posting Everything

Reusing content across multiple platforms can be an efficient and effective strategy, but not without caution. Each platform has different posting formats, so what looks great on one may fall flat on another. If every post is automatically shared across all of your accounts, you risk boring or irritating your followers with repetitive content. Rather than automatically copying content, first tweak it to match the best style for each platform and then stagger your publishing days and times.

#6 – Unnecessary Tagging

If you’re going to tag someone in your post, there should be a clear reason for doing so. Is that person or business directly involved in your content, such as being part of a picture or quoted in the post? If so, tagging is probably ok or even appreciated. Indiscriminately tagging anyone else is unecessary and more likely to be annoying than to increase your visibility.

#7 – Not Being Social

Social media is meant to be, well, social! It shouldn’t be a one-way platform for publicizing your business. Instead, think of it as a two-way form of communication and an opportunity to have conversations. Interact with your followers and other businesses, respond to questions, and acknowledge comments.

#8 – Repeating the Same Message

Posting the same photos and stories on repeat isn’t likely to engage your audience. It’s not wrong to repost previous content, but it should be done thoughtfully and sparingly. If you’re going to reuse something, add a fresh spin on it before sharing and let your followers know why it’s still relevant.

For more helpful social media tips, check out our Travel Agent Tips video: How to Market Your Travel Business on Social Media

Content Inspired By: Entrepreneur

At KHM Travel Group, we understand that social media marketing can be a challenge. Your membership includes access to education and specially-designed social media resources for travel agents. Want to find out more? Fill out the form on the right or call 888.611.1220 ext 2200.