We all tend to think that our social media and content is great, don’t we?
After all, we have done the training and we are now providing our followers with value in a fun, educational and memorable way, speaking to our audience in a manner that they enjoy.
The truth is that our content could be doing more harm than good.
Well, luckily for you (and us!) the really kind people at Adobe recently conducted a new study of 1,000 consumers across the U.S. and found the 8 ways which annoys them most about content from the likes of you and me!
Do you want to keep your followers happy and engaged? Of course you do!
Well, avoid these common mistakes then…
Mistake #1: 39% are annoyed by content that’s poorly written or is too long

Typos and grammatical mistakes are bound to happen
We all make mistakes, we are not William Shakespeare, and typos and grammatical mistakes are bound to happen. Just keep in mind that too wordy, or poorly written content, is a big, big turnoff for your followers and prospective customers.
Be clear, to the point and accurate with your tone of voice and your language, keep it simple. If you work in a team, ask another member of your team or colleague to review your content just to be on the safe side.
Mistake #2: 28% of consumers are annoyed by content that’s poorly designed
Visual content is essential on social media, it’s even more important that your content is visually appealing to your audience.
Again, we are not all graphic designers, we are not all creative geniuses. Have a look at Canva, a free and easy to use piece of software that can help you enormously with social media templates ready for you to use.
Mistake #3: The majority of consumers are annoyed by content that gets too personalised and creepy
Personalisation is great isn’t it? You know, when you get an email or a reply on Facebook that starts with your name? BUT…too much of it is just plain creepy, so it seems, according to the research.
At Social Pathway, we think the key to not turning off your followers and consumers is staying relevant to their situation, but not to the point where it freaks them out! Don’t make it feel like you are spying on them.
Mistake #4: Stale or boring content annoys 23% of consumers

Try not to bore your audience
Are you constantly pumping out content to try and achieve your goal?
If you are then we advise that you be very careful with this – the more someone sees a concept, the less impact it’ll have. For example, if your brand is the 5th, 6th or 7th business to have shared the exact same piece of content, it will appear lame and of lesser value to the person reading or viewing it.
Try and put your own spin on your curated content to freshen things up a bit, make it a bit more appealing and relevant to your audience.
Mistake #5: Not personalised? This can annoy consumers too!
Ok, we know you are going to point back to mistake #3, but your followers do prefer content that relates to their specific question or personal situation. Remember, if you can offer a solution to a pain point then you will be in a strong position to appeal to your audience. So try to stay relevant and helpful to your audience.
It’s vital that you create content with your audience in mind, so that everything you publish will appeal to them in some way. The relevance of your social media content will position your brand as an authority in your industry, the `Go to` person for your existing and potential customers.
Mistake #6: Mobile responsiveness is essential. 21% of consumers feel aggrieved by content that isn’t optimised for their device

Mobile-first creatives please!
We strongly agree with Facebook when it recommends focusing on mobile-first creative as a best practice for advertising. This is a clever move when you consider that most social media content is read or viewed on a mobile device.
When you consider that screen size can vary widely across all devices, it’s important to try and customise your content to the device it will be consumed on. Makes sense doesn’t it?
Imagine your own user experience when you see content that is cut off when viewing it on your phone.
Mistake #7: Consumers are annoyed by content with no video or images
Yes, people do still enjoy reading, but, 17% of consumers enjoy video or fun imagery more than just text only.
Each of the major social media platforms leans towards using photos and videos, so this should be common practice when it comes to your content strategy.
Mistake #8: Last, but not least, 16% of consumers get annoyed by content which promotes something they’ve already bought!
Yes, we’ve all seen it…How annoying is it to purchase a product, or service, only to see a discount coupon for the item a few days or weeks afterwards?
Be thoughtful of what kind of content you serve to both existing and potential customers. From a content strategy point of view, ensure it is common practice to avoid publishing redundant promotions to those who’ve already converted, and can’t make any use of them. It will save you time, heartbreak and money!

People buy from people or companies they trust!
If you can try and avoid these 8 mistakes you’ll certainly keep the risk of annoying your followers to a minimum. Remember this…if they are annoyed by your content do you think they are likely to buy from you?
I’m a firm believer in that people only buy from brands they know, like or trust.