10 Preventable Social Marketing Mistakes

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Social media has made a profound impact on the way businesses market their products and services. Did you think Facebook and Twitter wouldn't last when they first came out? Many of us did but boy were we wrong! Social media has taken most of the world by storm and if you own a business you definitely need to incorporate social media marketing in to your business plans.

Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs and LinkedIn have grown faster than radio or television! Social media has made such a big impact on business more than 70% of companies now have a Facebook page.

Social media does take time and work and must be done effectively. Below is a list of ten social media mistakes and what you can do to prevent them from happening.

1. Not Being Consistent - You cannot post on your Facebook page or tweet here and there. You have to draw up a social media plan and schedule your time spent on your social sites.

What You can Do: Make up a daily and weekly social media schedule and stick to it. Plan to spend maybe an hour a day working on your social sites. Do not spread yourself too thin. Choose a couple of the best sites and give them the time and attention they need to work their magic. I would recommend Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

2. No Interaction - When people comment or post on your pages, you need to answer them and thank them. If you do not respond to people who visit your page, they will just stop visiting.

What You Can Do: Check your sites at least twice a day to see if anyone has posted or left comments. Take the time to answer them thoroughly - a quick thank you will not always suffice! Then you should go visit their site and reciprocate. This will help keep your pages active.

3. Not Adding Personality - You want your social sites to be a fun and friendly place to visit but you also need to keep it professional. Don't just post a bunch of clone comments with no personality.

What You Can Do: Treat your page as if it were a meeting place for you and your clients. Talk about interesting things, offer special deals and contests, keep things fresh and new. This will make your page live with personality!

4. Not Linking Accounts - If you have several social sites and a blog you should be connecting them all together so people can find them all.

What You Can Do: Put your social site links on your main blog or site. Use widgets and/or plug-ins that will allow your visitors to easily connect to your social pages. Have your posts go out to all your social sites instead of one at a time.

5. Not Asking for Likes and Follows - Don't be afraid to ask people to Like your page or Follow your account. This can greatly increase your social activity.

What You Can Do: Put a request in your email signature, put it on your business card, put it on all your office stationary. Post your links wherever possible and ask for those follows. You have to incorporate your social media into all parts of your marketing.

6. No Quality Content - You have to give people a reason to want to visit your social sites. After all, there are millions of pages so you definitely have to offer something of value.

What You Can Do: Post links to helpful articles, offer little tidbits if useful information, post special sales, offer coupons and prizes. Contests are very popular so try holding a fun easy contest each month. Give all those people a reason to keep coming back!

7. No Call to Action - People are more likely to respond to a sale or service if you give them clear concise calls to action.

What You Can Do: A call to action can be as simple as "Click Here to Subscribe" or "Read the Entire Article". Use as many as is appropriate to get your visitors to do the desired action. When you post something, you can ask people to retweet or share on their Facebook page. Offer discounts on your products with calls to action like "Click Here to Get $25.00 Off Your First Order" or "Click Button for Special Offer". The possibilities are endless and effective!

8. Not Writing Effective Profiles - Your profile is the first impression that most people will get of you so you want to make it impressive. Just slapping up your name and hometown is not going to get the job done. A complete well-written profile will help build your credibility.

What You Can Do: Finish your profiles completely. Add a professional looking photo of yourself. List your qualifications and why people would benefit from your products or services. Do not leave blank spaces or unfilled information. Read your profile from your visitors' point of view. Would you visit your page from what you see?

9. Not Proofreading - Bad grammar and spelling can make a good page go bad.

What You Can Do: Read your post as you are writing it and then when you are finished read it again. It also helps if you have someone else read it as well because they might notice things you have missed. Be sure all your posts, tweets, etc., are written correctly and look professional.

10. Getting Too Personal - We've all seen them. The posts and tweets that read something like, I am watching Rambo tonight but it gave me a headache so I am off to bed! Or, went shopping today and bought my baby a new pair of booties. Posts such as these do not belong on business pages so be sure to not get too personal when posting.

What You Can Do: Visit other successful social pages and look over the kinds of things they post. Provide info that would actually help your visitors and benefit them. Getting your hair cut is great but it doesn't help your potential customers. Although, it probably will annoy them! So, with every post you write, ask yourself, would this help my visitors?

Social media marketing has opened doors with incredible speed and power so if you are not successfully taking advantage of that, you need to start learning and open up those social site accounts.

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