Social media marketing is a powerful way to spread your content, but if not used correctly, could be harmful for your site.
Mistakes are always just around the corner and here below you can read some of the most common ones.
Create Thousands of Profiles
The first thing you do is create a Facebook Fan Page, then a Twitter profile and a LinkedIn account. And then … It’s easy to get carried away with Social Media: there are many social networks, and each one is presented as the solution to all your problems, but the truth is that you do not need every every social media account available.
Unless you are not suffering from presenteeism mania, you should avoid to subscribe to everything you find online.
Just try to figure out what you really need and what really works for you!
Do Not Take Care of Your Accounts
Often who has thousand social media accounts around the web, do not take care of them.
A slightly edited account (not completely filled in the fields, not updated or slightly) is not a pretty sight. And do not think it’s just one person tought, but I think everyone who see your profile will think the same. It is better not to have it, than make a bad work in a social media account!
Use the Same Strategy for Each Channel
Every social media network and every communication channel you’re using to interact with your audience has very specific rules.
And you must know that to be truly decisive in any environment you have to know its rules, the dynamics of interaction and strategies that will lead you to become a reference point for the audience.
All this translates into two words: time and effort.
Walking with a Snotty Nose
Do you want to accept all the friendships that you receive, even the sad account created only for sending spam?
You can do it, it’s your right, but remember to create a healthy interaction with the contacts closest to your field of interest.
Just remember not to walk with a snotty nose: Social media are so called precisely because they are social!
Confusing Spam for Promotion
You have created your Twitter account, Facebook and everything else to share your business or simply to spread the contents of your blog. Obviously, this seems right!
But remember, not to turn youself into a spammer, becoming one of those people who send a thousand times the same content.
Try to behave naturally and to share valuable resources. Also mention other useful content and it is your duty to quote the author, of course!
Ignore the Monitoring
So you have good relationships with all your contacts, you can get retweeted your content 1,000 times a day and you are in the circles of many people online. But have you ever thought that you need to measure your social media progress?
I know that the measurement of social media is still difficult to realize, but the network offers a range of tools precise enough to monitor your online presence. So why not use these tools?
Jump the Gun
Haste is the mother of all evils, it has always been so. And one of the biggest mistakes you can do is pretend to reach superstar numbers after a few weeks on Social Media Marketing.
In the online world nothing is taken for granted and, unless you are a VIP in real world, you will need time to create big numbers in your social media accounts.
Just be patient, share good content and build relationships! And soon the results will come.
What do you think? Which Social Media do you prefer and which one works the best for you?
About Erik Emanuelli
Hi Erik,
I think having lots of profiles can only gives you trouble, and monitoring is also important so better to have limited social media profiles on web.
BTW Nice article Keep Posting!..
Nishant Srivastava recently posted..Are you fooled by Guest Writers?
Hi Nishant,
that’s right, you should have just the social media profiles you like more.
Which one are working best for you?
Right Erik, We should Opt as per our Interest for example many people create Profiles on linkedin and stumble upon but never use them like me..
Nishant Srivastava recently posted..Why Successful bloggers have lots of Enemies
Well, you should use both LinkedIn and StumbleUpon.
The first one is great to connect with users and audience of your niche.
The second one is (or was?) fantastic to bring traffic to your blog pages and most interesting articles.
Another one I would add is: not being personal. Even if it’s your business account, include some details about your outside life, family, etc. that will help people connect with you better. Pat Flynn does an excellent job of this!
Thomas
Thomas recently posted..MAT 001: A Public Critique of My First App with David Janner of Make App Magazine
Yes, Thomas!
Great suggestion, thanks!
Sharing something personal help indeed in engage more with people.
I like stumbleupon as a social media tool. It happens to be my favorite.
Robert Koenig recently posted..Home Depot Nearly Gets Away With Refusing to Pay Injured Customer’s Medical Bills
Actually like Digg time ago, also StumbleUpon use to be a great source of traffic.
Now it is much less popular, but it is still worth an account there.
Thanks for the comment, Robert.
You should do work according to your niche and try to do one work at a time other wise you can confuse if you will try to do couple of works at the same time.
Sam recently posted..India Trips
Indeed, Sam.
You should decide a strategy and stick with it. Use Social Media accordingly.
Hi Erik
I totally agree your point. If you do a wrong way, Social Media Marketing is easy to disturb other people.Thanks for your sharing,really a good article with good tips.
Puck
Hi Puck,
not to be too obsessive is one of the reasons of success, especially with social media.
Thanks for your comment.
Hi, Erik!
I don’t accept all the friendships that I receive, especially those with weird names or company names. Usually I check if we have common friends. I hate seeing my wall full of spam (it happened, so I cleaned my friends list)
Cristian Stan recently posted..Reciprocating Saw Reviews
Hi Cristian,
well, it depends for the reasons you are using social media.
Most of the people have profiles just for pleasure, but many use them for business, so the strategy change dramatically.
Don’t you agree with me?
Yes, I guess so. But even if you have a business, you can’t accept just anyone, otherwise they will spam you and take advantage of your hard work (e.g. friends list)
Cristian Stan recently posted..Toaster Oven Reviews
Well, it still depends from your point of view, I guess.
May be someone could just add anyone in order to increase the audience and contacts.
And may be someone else would like to keep the connection more personal.
However it’s a matter of strategy.
But thanks for share your points.
Hello Eric , There is no doubt that social media is one of the best media for promoting any business but sometime we do some common mistakes and you highlighted that mistakes in an awesome ways. It often happen that we try to use same strategy on all the social media which is not good at all. Anyways thanks Eric for this great information.
firdosh joy recently posted..Apple iPhone 5 first look & Full features
I am glad you enjoyed the content, Joy.
Very useful post esp. in the current climate of social media spammers, it’s more important than ever to be real. Thanks for pointing out common errors most people make while building their social media connections. Personal interactions, thanking people, building connections, sharing useful info that’s not your own , and above all your last point – giving it time, are all ways in which to shine at social media.
Gazalla Gaya recently posted..Is Social Media the New SEO?
Social Signals!
Social Media are more important than ever, above all for people which use them for business and increase online visibility.
Authority also pass trough social media.
Thanks for your comment, Gazalla!
Great post Eric!
It seems like, these days anyone who is planing to get into the internet marketing assumes that if social media is conquered, you are ahead of the game. First thing they would do is creating social media profiles available. It takes much more than that.
Like you said, having thousands of social media is not going to bring any good. It all depends on how you manage your social media. You have some real thought provoking questions to the existing marketers and to the new internet marketers on dealing with the social profile.!
AnnettaPowell recently posted..Building Trust – A Crucial Aspect of Internet Marketing Success
I really do agree with you, Annetta.
I have a travel niche site about Tokyo and Japan.
I remember to have created different social media profiles in Facebook, Twitter, etc., but I have never followed them with the right attention.
Conclusion? I have no benefits from them at all.
So yes, if you want to have return from social media, you have to work on them constantly!
Thanks for your comment.
Great list Eric, but in my opinion you overlooked the ultimate offence! That would be focusing only on a sales message.
So many companies jump on the social bandwagon only to herald their products and services with wild abandon. Until companies realize that social is about conversation and cultivation relationships with your stakeholders, they will never leverage its impact strategically.
Ruth Zive recently posted..7 Ways That B2B Companies Underestimate Content Marketing
I love your statement :
“social is about cultivation of relationships!”
I do agree, also blogging is about building nice friendships, I learned this.
And you can enjoy this also for your private life. You can always learn from nice or/and experienced people in your field.
Thanks for your comment, Ruth!
Hi Erik,
Yes – I do agree. One cannot expect to use the same strategy on social channels of unequal value and target market and expect to get the same amount of ROI.
That’s right, Anton.
And a human touch is always welcome, I think, in social media.
It’s called “social” for one reason!
Made a good point with the social networks it will come as you get known for what you do! Have a great day on purpose!
RCONNORIII recently posted..Traffic Marketing : Email from Neil Patel
You need to have a strategy, if you want to use social media, other than personal purposes, also to promote your business.
Don’t you think so?
Hi erik I am just starting my social media side of seo for my site. Some very helpful and informative points here. Especially about not opening loads of accounts and not having the time to keep on top of them and update them. So from that advice I think I will just start with LinkedIn and stumble upon. And take it from there to see if I have time to do any others.
Great information thanks lee
Hi Lee,
you should start filling a great LinkedIn profile,check my Guest Post at Basic Blog Tips(tutorial on how to create a professional LinkedIn profile):
http://basicblogtips.com/professional-linkedin-profile.html
Then in replacement of StumbleUpon, start with a Twitter account, a must have for any online business owners.
StumblleUpon was great source of traffic time ago, now it is changed, and does not bring a lot of visits as before.
Let me know!
A friend of mine is extensively using SMM for his camera rentals business. I am forwarding this list to him to help him become aware of these errors. Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks for sharing the article, Dipa!
Having too many profiles to manage diverts the attention and not even one profile gets your due attention. Profile management is one of the key factors in social media marketing. Great tips you have shared here, Erik.
Hi Fatima,
I am happy to see you liked the content.
That’s right, you need to manage properly your social media accounts, in order to receive benefits from SMM.
Hi Erik,
I particularly like the ‘confusing spam with promotion’ thingy. It’s true actually as I have liked pages due to certain promotions my friend recommended. In the end, I ended up unliking them because they were flooding my wall with updates that they just kept reposting.
Hi Felicia,
that’s right, SPAM is against any possibility of success!
Great post Erik, with an equally vibrant strings of comments below as well!
Not sure I agree with the very first statement, or mistake, which is “creating thousands of accounts”. At the end of the day, it really depends on what the brand or company is seeking, and where its target audience is most active. An independent consultant will not have the same priorities and resources as a multinational company for whom it may very well make sense to have thousands of accounts.
Taking a step back, what are the objectives for the brand’s presence online and in social media? Once this is clear, the tactics and platforms will be chosen accordingly, and it may mean only a few accounts or, on the contrary, hiring resources to manage a successful presence across various platforms and accounts.
Cheers from Quebec City,
Frederic
I think it depends on the size of the company and the funds which can be invested in social media marketing.
Many accounts are difficult to manage for a single user, especially if you do not work primarily on this.
Having a strategy before even starting social media marketing is important, and then you should consistently follow it.
Thanks for the comment, Frederic.
I hope the time is great in Quebec City!
I agree your point Erik, If you do a wrong way, Social Media Marketing is easy to disturb other people.Thanks for your sharing,really a good article with good tips.
Hi Daniel,
glad to know you enjoyed the article!
Each social platform is more than just a platform. It is a community. What goes down well in one community doesn’t go down so well in another (witness how America protects the right to free speech what in Asian countries is considered blasphemy). Just like in the real world, when you walk into a social media room, it is best to first test the waters and get a feel for what is acceptable and what is not before spouting off one’s mouth.
Nice point of view, David!
Each user is in general different, but also the Facebook audience is different from the one in Twitter or Pinterest, for example!
Thanks for your comment!
That’s true. Patience is what we need. Sometimes, I’m not sure if what I’m doing is working or just a waste of time. Thanks for the tips here, I really appreciate this.
Elysse Parsons recently posted..How to Stop a Runny Nose without Medicine
Only time will tell you if you are doing the right thing or not.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the comment, Elysse.
Having a well thought of strategy in initiating an effective marketing campaign on social networking platforms is a must, it really pays to be solution and goal oriented. Complete engagement may only be achieved when we make an effort to interact and solicit the interest of our fans. Thanks for the enlightening share!
Glad you liked the article, Joy!
Thanks for the comment!
Hi Erik
I’m agree with you. This is great article. I think the big takeaway here is that social marketing requires planning and careful thought. You don’t just throw up a Twitter profile and expect the money to start rolling in just because you are tweeting some stuff. So you are share useful tips.
Social media marketing needs a lot of work in order to have good results!
I am glad you liked the article, Santosh!
I believe that in order to have a successful social networking strategy you have to get to know people. Start relationships, and comment with others on social media platforms. Let them get used to seeing you interacting, and when it comes time for you to share something of yours, it will work out better for you.
Wade recently posted..Blogging Tips in 2012 For A Successful Blog in 2013
I agree with you, Wade.
I like Social Media because the “social part”.
Most of the people do not understand that without interacting with your audience, it will be hard to “sell” something and receive trust from them.