Do you sometimes wonder if the effort you are putting into your tweets, updates and posts is really getting you anywhere? Maybe you’re seeing some interaction from your efforts but still can’t see how this is going to help you. Where’s it all going?

If you can relate to this, maybe you have fallen into the trap of one or more of the three most common Social Media mistakes.

Or perhaps you are reluctant to include Social Media in your marketing because either you don’t know where to start or you are fearful of beginning something that you don’t completely understand and are not fully committed to.

In that case, if you are aware of the three most common Social Media mistakes you will start off on the right foot! You will avoid the traps and understand exactly how Social Media can help you and your business.

So whether you’ve dipped your toe into social media marketing or have yet to take the plunge, I want to let you know what the most common social media marketing mistakes are so you can give them a wide berth.

So here they are.

3 Social Media mistakes to avoid:

  1. Failure to plan

  2. Sell, sell, sell

  3. Inconsistency

Now you know what they are you can do something about it!

Failure to plan

I get the impression that many people dive into using the social media platforms without really having thought why they are doing it and how it’s going to benefit their business. Understanding the bigger picture and being clear about your objectives will help you to use social media successfully.

It’s been said that LinkedIn is the world’s largest bank of CVs. What a wasted opportunity for companies and business owners! Some feel that Twitter is full of ‘twitter litter’! All they can see is inane chatter that’s boring and an utter waste of time. But with an understanding of what these platforms have to offer you and used correctly there are loads of opportunities to grab.

Sell, sell, sell

All I’ll say here is that think about how you avoid that annoying person at a networking meeting who thrusts a business card in your hand, demands one from you, tells you what he/she does and moves on to the next person. Those feelings of being totally put off are the same when this happens in the virtual world.

Inconsistency

If you have a social media plan it’s unlikely that you will fall into this third trap. Your plan will ensure that your messages are consistent and the time and effort that you assign to social media marketing is effective.

With the numbers of people joining Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google + (and many others) growing day by day it’s something that is here to stay and will evolve over the years. Your future customers (and not forgetting existing customers too) are there so ‘Love it or hate it, you gotta embrace it!’

My mission is to help small business owners understand how social media marketing compliments their other marketing activities and to ensure that the time and effort put into this important activity is correctly and successfully used.

I’m making this happen through a ½ day workshop on 9th May; ‘How does social media fit into your business?’

I’ve seen past delegates have that ‘light bulb’ moment when they suddenly grasp how they are going to communicate in the virtual world. It all becomes clear. It makes sense, which means that going forward they will be more successful and gain better results from the time they put into social media activities.

Please do contact me with your social media marketing questions as I’d love to hear from you nicola@attractivemarketing.biz or call e on 07565 382803.