A Short History of the Wristwatch

The story of the wristwatch is a journey through time, from the first clock to regulate a regular daily schedule to our modern ubiquitous digital watches. Along the way they've transformed as symbols of status, fashion and now popular technology. The wristwatch has slowly evolved into an indicator for international time zones, alarms and timers in our everyday lives. We are glad you can join this fascinating history lesson!

What's your favorite watch? How do you like wearing various styles on your wrist? Share with us your experiences and thoughts in the comments below! You never know who might be watching ;)

#4 Promotional Posts

Every business needs to promote their products or services at some point during their lifecycle. When you're promoting products or services on your social media channels, you need to remember that it's just like any conversation. You wouldn't walk up to a random person and immediately start yelling at them about how good your brand is, so don't do that on social media either.

You should definitely put one in a post now and then, especially if it's relevant to your audience. However, most of the time it shouldn't be the focus of your content.

If you want to increase engagement with comments by asking a question or expressing doubt on something, make sure that it ties in with your post in some way. Otherwise, you're more likely to get followers who don't care about your post.

The idea is to generate leads. People will eventually want to know what you're selling, and by expressing interest now and then, they could be a potential customer in the near future.

However, you still need to make sure that it doesn't take away from your main focus.

#5 Content Volume

This is one of those mistakes where the social media manager believes that more is better. If you've ever been overworked or overwhelmed with school assignments, then you know exactly how counterproductive more work can be. In this case, quantity does not equal quality!

Nevertheless, social media managers often find themselves in this trap. They often post too many times throughout the day, and they use automated software to make it happen. In addition, they might have more Facebook and Twitter accounts than they know what to do with.

#6 Being Too Generic

A lot of social media managers try to be everything to everyone. They believe that the more followers or fans they have, the better chance they have of making a sale or generating a lead. The thing is, not one of those people is going to be that interested in your product or service if you don't specialize in something.

I've talked about this in a previous blog post, so if you'd like to hear more about the benefits of focusing on one niche or brand, then check it out.

If you're not sure what your niche is, then go with the traditional headline that you've learned from your content writing classes. However, remember to make sure that this isn't simply a copy and paste job. You need to take your background research and apply it to something unique.

#7 Misleading Posts

It might sound obvious that when you post on social media platforms, you should always keep things factual and accurate. If you do it once or twice, then I won't hold them against you (okay maybe I will). However, if you're constantly misleading your audience or spreading false information, then you might have some problems.

Think about it. If your primary goal is to sell products or services, then the last thing you want to do is make your fans feel like they can't trust you. That goes for fake posts and over-the-top marketing tactics as well. At the end of the day, quality always shines through in any business.

If you have any questions about how to keep your social media efforts more professional and reliable, feel free to leave a comment below!

#8 Blog Posts and Guest Posts

Social media managers love blogs for a lot of reasons.

Conclusion:

Social media is undeniably more than a marketing tool. It's also an interactive platform that has opened the doors to improved communication, collaboration, and inspiration for everyone. As social media continues to evolve, we can only imagine how many more ways it will continue to improve our lives.

What are your thoughts on this list? Are there any other mistakes that you've seen? Do you agree or disagree with my list of common mistakes? Which of these mistakes have you made before as a social media manager? Let me know in the comments below! I read every comment and appreciate your feedback.

I'm Jesse Sightler, a freelance writer from Chicago who specializes in business-to-business writing and content marketing for law firms .