Top 5 Social Media Mistakes You Need To Avoid

Everyone learns these new tools for communication at their own pace. Heck, it took me years to finally start text messaging. Aside from the occasional autocorrect slipup, mistakes through text messaging aren’t too detrimental but some social media mistakes can be deadly to your reputation and/or sales depending on the severity.

There’s a saying we have in social media…what happens in Vegas, stays on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube! What I mean is, nobody forgets on the web and that can be a painful or blissful realization depending on how you play your cards online.

Before one of your valuable customers holds a silent (or not so silent) grudge against you, make sure you aren’t making one of these 5 social media mistakes!

Related: Why Tomorrow Is Too Late When It Comes To Social Media Training

1. Not Responding To Customer Tweets/Messages.

Make sure you are regularly checking to see if you have messages from customers or prospects on your social media pages. People get pretty upset when they’re ignored, especially by companies that they give money to. Why can’t they just call or email you ask? This is 2012, that’s why. Things have changed ‘round here, partner!

2. Too Much Self Promotion.

The biggest way to turn people off it to use social media to constantly try and sell something.  This is the quickest way to lose your audience. Instead you must provide value that shows you’re the expert so you can create enough interest to encourage prospects to further engage with your brand, either by visiting your website or opting into your email list, etc. Focus on creating value and then you can attach a call-to-action to promote a relevant product or service. Using social media is like watching TV with a PVR, people will almost always skip the commercials!

3. You’re Talking At Your Customers, Not Talking To Them!

Yes, there is a big difference. Communicate with your customers and let them feel like a real person is talking directly to them. Personality is warmly embraced on social media and garners the greatest results for brands and businesses.

4. Being Inconsistent.

Consistency is the key to success on social media and the thing that gets people down is usually their misguided expectations. One of the best social media quotes I remember reading is, “Social media is not a sprint, it’s a marathon,” and it has always stuck out in my mind because it’s so true. Stick it out and keep providing value…it will pay off.

Related: Social Proof: Your Magic Bullet For Online Success

5. Not Monitoring Relevant Keywords.

If you’re a restaurant in downtown Boston, than you should be monitoring Twitter to see anyone who mentions the words “hungry” and promptly offering them a irresistible deal to come try your food. It’s things like these that are so easy and allow you to directly connect with people that are literally shouting out for you. If a person tweets and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? You know what I mean.

I could likely fill an entire book with the different social media mistakes that occur on a daily but I hope you found this top 5 helpful.

What type of social media mistakes have you seen or made yourself online? Leave a message in the comments below.

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