Things That Give Us The Ick On Social Media
In other words, things we would avoid doing on social media & why…
Social media is a free space for you to do whatever you want and that’s what we love most about it. Remember, there is no wrong or right way to do things, because it’s a form of self-expression; however, there are best practices and advice that you can follow if you’re feeling lost on social media, and here’s our way of telling you what NOT to do (in our opinion).
OVERPRODUCED VIDEOS ON TIKTOK
We’re talking about the whole sound effects, background effects, fancy auto-generated captions from outside apps and talking to the camera like a robot. People on TikTok want to see real people, sharing their personality, and something about these overproduced videos make us feel like it’s fake! Instead, just whip out your camera & imagine yourself talking to one of your clients, friends or customers (depending on what business you are).
KEYWORD DUMPING
Keyword dumping is adding words, hashtag-like format, but without the hashtag sign (#) in captions. For one of our posts, it would look like this:
social media, social media tips, tiktok advice, instagram advice…
The reason why people do it is because they believe that this will help improve their reach & discoverability on both Instagram & TikTok, but what they don’t know is that this actually confuses the algorithm and the platform has a higher chance of marking your account as a spam account. Instead, use industry & post specific keywords and incorporate them within the sentences you use & write in your videos, posts & your caption!
HASHTAGS IN YOUR BIO
Unless you have your own personalized hashtag that you encourage your audience use, then hashtags in your bio don’t work. They don’t improve your reach or discoverability, so save yourself the extra character in your bio and instead, write a meaningful & engaging bio stating exactly who you are as a brand.
DM SCRIPTS WITH THE INTENTION TO SELL
When you are in people’s DM’s with the intention to sell, it is so obvious, especially when you keep asking questions, that are obviously intended for you to sell your service! Firstly, if you go ahead with this method of selling, it’s so important to ask for consent to ask the person you are DM-ing if it’s okay with them that you go ahead and ask questions about their business, financial situation, health etc… Otherwise, it can come off as intrusive and rude. Secondly, we wouldn’t rely on this method at all. Instead, we would rely on building an army-like community that makes you sales without you having to do all that work in the DM’s. It’s better for your reputation too & more long-term.
CAPTIONS CONTINUED IN THE COMMENTS on instagram
We love a bit of long-form content; but no one is going to read that. Use that long caption for a longer-form video on TikTok or Instagram! People’s attention span gets shorter & shorter by the day, so make sure to accommodate that and keep your captions at a medium-length at most, with the exception of a longer caption here and there (especially if it’s a personal-type post)!
too many sales posts on tiktok
People will scroll, immediately and so do we. TikTok should always be at the top of our social media funnel, with the goal of building a community and raising brand awareness. You don’t build a community by constantly selling to them, you build a community by prioritizing your audience, answering their questions & giving them value. You need to start off with convincing your audience why they should buy from you! We see a lot of brands only sell sell sell on TikTok, and that’s definitely not the way to go on this app, because it won’t get you views, engagement or sales.
AESTHETIC FEEDS WITH NO SUBSTANCE
We’re all for a gorgeous feed if that’s in alignment with your brand values; however, not if it’s giving. nothing. People want something from your feed, whether that’s educational-type content, entertainment etc. You’ve got to give some value, because that’s what will make people follow you and stay for more.
BASIC COMMENTS
We’ve all seen and left the “Love it!” comment on Instagram, we just know it. Basic comments like these give the impression to the creator that you’re not really paying attention to what they’re posting and you’re just leaving a comment for the sake of it, or to get noticed. Instead, try customising your comments to the post itself.
TELL US YOUR ICKS
Do you agree with these? Do you disagree with these? What are some of your personal social media icks? We would love it if you DM us on our Instagram and let us know!
