I am consistently seeing more and more companies using Social Media Marketing to help improve their brand awareness and sales, and I think it is great to see more people engaging the masses.
As many of these companies begin to put their toe in the water of Social Media Marketing, it is just as important to know what not to do, as it is to know what to do.
So here is my list of top 7 Social Media Marketing No-No's: 1.
Using every single blog post, tweet, or Facebook update to try to sell your product.
Social media is a conversation, not a sales pitch, become the expert, give away some free information and engage with your customers on a personal level.
2.
Finding the person in your company with the most Facebook followers and saying, "hey, you spend a lot of time doing this, you can do it for the company.
" There is much more to a Social Media Campaign than just having followers, while it is important, the followers need to be relevant and the expected end result should not be the most followers, but targeted followers, interested in having a conversation with your company.
Hire a Social Media Expert! 3.
Lose sight of your objective Many people forget the objective of Social Media Marketing is to increase a company's bottom line.
Make sure you are seeing an increase in leads and sales through your efforts.
Again it is important to not berate your followers with sales offers during the process.
4.
Expecting it to work tomorrow It takes time to build a loyal following, and increase your brand awareness, do not expect to double your company sales in 2 weeks, give it time (although you should see increased activity, more hits, more fans, etc...
quickly).
5.
Not being involved No one knows your company better than you do.
While there are some great article writers out there, it is a good idea for you to write your own blog post, or submit enough information for someone to write one that will be engaging.
You will not get as good of results if you do not assist in the process.
6.
Thinking all you need is a twitter account, Facebook account, and blog While these are important aspects of a Social Media Campaign, it is important to realize that there is much more that goes on.
These sites need to be linked to each other, you need to be using more outlets, and you need to be updating consistently.
Sites need to be bookmarked; you need to do article submission, building an email list, and so much more.
7.
Ignore it! (Maybe the most important) You've gone through all the trouble of setting everything up, maybe even started to gain some followers, but then you just give up.
All you are telling you customers is "hey, we are not going to follow through!" The other part is you may be just on the brink of success when you throw in the towel, so keep plugging along! I hope you find the list useful and as always I look forward to your comments and questions.