This is perhaps a ‘sin’ committed by the ‘savvy-entrepreneur’. The one that knows the power of social media, has dabbled in it in the past and understands – to some extent on the utility value to her brand. Such an Entrepreneur may commit this sin unknowingly, but unfortunately a great many of them commit it with all good intentions. They believe that they “got this” or “I’ve done this before. How much could it have changed since then.”

Unfortunately, digital marketing is an ever-evolving medium. Unless the way you earn your living is by doing this, day-in or day-out; it is just not possible for you to keep up. This is especially true if you are a Startup Entrepreneur who has other matters demanding their attention.

Here are a collection of 5 Common Mistakes that collectively make up this “3^rd Sin” in Digital Marketing for a Startup Brand:

1. Non-Adherence – to the Social Architecture
   There is a way to set up and manage your brand on Social Media, and it is different when you are a one-person company and when you are a ‘business’, with multiple individuals managing your marketing or brand online. Perhaps even external stakeholders like an agency or Do you really want anyone to have the power of accessing and managing your brand’s Social Media identity? And No, this is not about the often abused term, “Admin Rights”. It is about an ‘architecture’ that has been defined using Global Best Practices. This requires you to enter this “deep dark cave” of the Facebook Back-End platform and ensure you are set up to manage risk, compliance and future business needs. Ignore it and you are on a road to hell.
2. Not knowing your ‘Audience’
   In order to run any Ads on Social Media, reaching out to you ‘Audience’ or more accurately your ‘Target Audience’ is your goal. But do you know who that is? Especially, as per the definition of such an audience – as defined by Facebook? Whether your goals are Brand Awareness or Lead Generation, not knowing your audience is the proverbial equivalent of you waving to someone in the dark – you know that you are waving, but your audience doesn’t see that.
3. Not having a ‘Content Strategy’?
   If you know your audience, you know what you need to speak to get their attention. This translates into a well-thought approach to the use of Images, Copy-Text, Design Styles and a plan of what to say, when and how. Would you adapt your outdoor, hoarding campaign design to a television advertisement or a Brochure to a Print Ad? If you understand why you would not do that, you would know that any social media activity requires a content strategy that suits your brand, its message and your intended marketing goal. Adapt your content to platform you choose to market on, keeping in mind your audience and basic fundamentals of design.
   
4. Not having a ‘Content Mix’
   Your Social Media Strategy needs to follow a ‘mix’ that is an interesting blend of Brand-specific and Generic-Content. The operative word here is “interesting”. Your generic-content needs to be created keeping in mind your brand’s positioning, values and tone of voice, yet interesting and relevant to your target audience. Think of it like creating a garden you’re your audience wants to visit and you just happen to sell a picnic basket to those visitors. Needless to say, your brand-specific content needs to adhere to your brand’s tone of voice and guidelines across other forms of media, to ensure consistency. The true method to create and strategize your social media content is by utilizing every feature and technology offered by the social media platform itself – e.g. Stories, Story Tags or Feed Content.
5. Not having a Social Media Goal
   This could perhaps be the biggest mistake of them all. You cannot have multiple goals when running a campaign. You cannot say that I would like my audience to see my Ad on TV, become aware of my brand, get interested in its offerings, tell others about your brand and also call a number to order your product. There is a difference between a Ad that appears in the middle of a favorite soap opera on TV and the Tele-shopping network. You have got to choose what is your goal. Most of the brands do not understand the difference between an Offline and Online Audience. That clarity of the type of your audience, aligned to your specific goal is critical in achieving your objective from digital marketing.

So there you go, 5 mini-sins that collectively form a major “3^rd Sin” committed by Startups and Early-Stage Companies in implementing their Digital Marketing plans.