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It can be difficult and a little scary for small business to initially jump into social media. Luckily, for the businesses who are just starting in social media now, there are many other companies who have done it already. These businesses have already made mistakes that you can learn and benefit from.

I came across a blog post on typepad that discussed the 5 most common social media mistakes that business have done, and I’ve highlighted them below. These mistakes are easy to avoid and will make your journey into social media much easier and more successful.

Here's a list of the biggest mistakes I've seen business owners make with social media and how to avoid them.

1. Talking One-Way: Many business owners start posting status updates because they think that is all they need to do to grow their company online. But the way they do it cuts off any chance of having a two-way conversation. In today's messaging marketplace, consumers want to be heard. If you are just talking to customers but not letting them to talk back and engage with you, then you are wasting considerable time and effort online.

When you go online and post in a status update area, do not just talk at or to people; speak with them. Tag people in a post and ask them a question. Tagging simple means that you write directly to a person on their facebook wall or on their Twitter feed. On Facebook you put the "@" sign in front of their profile name, for Twitter this sign would go in front of their username.

 

2. Not training employees. Social media may look easy, but it really isn’t. How your employees behave can have a big impact on your company’s social media reputation. For companies that are actively involved with social media, setting expectations and creating policies for employees is the best way to ensure that they help your reputation, not hurt it.

 

3. Publishing first, thinking later. In the world of social media, everything you say can and will be held against you. Unfortunately, the real-time nature of many social media websites encourages a ‘publish first, think later‘ dynamic. Companies have far too much to lose, however, and need to ensure that what’s being published is accurate, honest and in line with the company’s values. Sometimes, it’s better not to publish

 

4. Poor Messaging: A consumer can become overwhelmed by dealing with all the wrong messages that are crowding the Internet lately. Company owners are projecting the wrong image through what they say online. In some cases, their posts have absolutely nothing to do with their company, brand, or personality.

Too many entrepreneurs do what I call panic posting -- just posting for the sake of posting and sharing ideas that do not highlight their overall brand image. If you have a serious company, don't post jokes and funny videos; instead post statistics and updates about your company's team members. If your business has a relaxed image, inject humor into your posts; a funny YouTube video can go a long way.

 

5. Sales Faux Pas: Writing how much your product or services cost in a status update or post is not only a time waste; it is plain wrong. Would you walk up to someone before you have even introduced yourself and say that your latest product is now available at a certain price for a limited time? If so, you would probably end up not only talking to yourself (the person would walk away), but also you likely would lose the entire room of people as customers just from their overhearing your sales introduction.

Instead, try sharing the pros and cons about your industry or product category and ask people to provide feedback and participate. This is a great way to bridge the distance between you and your prospects and get them involved with your company's brand. Ultimately newfound fans will promote you without being asked because they feel included; the fact that you asked and listened goes a long way.

By avoiding these mistakes and being aware of the common issues of social media before your business gets involved, you’ll already be set up for success.

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Global buy sell B2B trade marketplace

I found this post very informative. I came across another interesting blog on common social media mistakes made by entreprenuers.

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www.hellotrade.com

It is amazing the impact that social media is having on business these days - who would have thought it!!!

Speaking from a SEO point of view...I think that social media all helps generate traffic to your website, which in turn can improve your google rankings!!

It all helps the cause!!!

Thanks for posting that link and for the very insightful and informative reply!

Carissa

 

 

 

 

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Looking For A Web Design Company That Makes You Money? Web Design Gold Coast

As number 6 on that list, I would add, thinking you have to be on every single social media platform. Depending on your business, it may only make sense to be on one or two. It's always better to be on just a few sites and manage those well than to spread yourself thin over too many different sites. 

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All i knew is that if you are posting just for the sake of getting links for your site and not helping the users out there, there can be no benefit of SMM sites and you are just making a false pass. Generate people to follow and thank you for your inputs. If one is able to make the people get there query done by you then they would automatically follow you and that would itself help in building your PR. Public relationship are cultivate by mutualism and similar is the fact that if you beget something then you are likely to get that in return.

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Corporate Promotional Products | Corporate Brand Marketing

This topic is so interesting, thanks to share and discussions on this topic.

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Thanks & Regard
Noah Wilson (Australian Vanlines)
Machine Cargo Moving | Commercial and Business Removals | Moving To Canberra

Social media is now a necessity for every business. However, it’s essential to have a plan about how you want to use social media rather than just a ‘because it’s there’ approach and hope for the best. What many small companies and brands don’t think about are the mistakes that they are making on a day-today basis which ultimately could be costing them business and money.

 

You don’t have a personality.

Having a personal image for your Twitter profile or Facebook page is important to increase engagement with your target audience. Social media is about relationships and people are attracted to having that with other people, not just some logo or brand image. You are not Starbucks or Ford yet and generally people don’t like to connect with companies because they aren’t human. People need to see that there is a face and personality behind your brand or business. There are plenty of places where you can incorporate your brand logo if you optimise your profiles correctly. Optimise your profile. 

 

You are inconsistent.

Social media is a fantastic marketing tool if used correctly, but one of the biggest mistakes is how many small businesses ignore their social media accounts for days on end then suddenly flood their feeds with many posts. There are several tools that you can use to schedule content and monitor mentions if you are away from your accounts.

 

You post the same content to every social media platform.

Many people post the same content across multiple platforms. If you have fans that engage with you on these platforms, then they may start to get overwhelmed with the same information. It’s lazy to link accounts and looks uncreative and spammy so people notice. Facebook is different to Google+ & LinkedIn is different to Twitter. Content needs to be targeted to the specific platform. 

 

You look like a ‘newbie.’

Twitter has ‘followers’ & Facebook has ‘likes.’ The amount of times I see the line ‘Please follow us on Facebook’ is now getting really annoying, as is the use of hashtags on Facebook. Hashtags are valuable ways to find content and specific content and are handy for organising events, but don’t just hashtag randomly in your posts. Save it for when it’s needed. 

 

You look desperate.

Having many fans, likes and followers is a good thing, but what use are such people that you don’t have a connection with? Social media is not about the numbers and it’s not a popularity contest. Forget about trying to control the people that follow you and focus on whom you chose to follow. And, please resist the temptation to ‘like’ posts that you have made on Facebook. It just makes you look desperate.

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Great Post. Anything on social media can go viral. Be it good or bad. So if its good, you stand to get huge gains but if its bad it could be very brand damaging..... and difficult to recover from that

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Customer analytics | growth strategy