If you actually use social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc) to market your business then good for you! You’re way ahead of the pack already. We’re all trying to figure out this new bad boy, but I continue to see some things that definitely aren’t helping you to market your business. These deadly mistakes mean you will lose followers and be ignored. Even worse you could get negative feedback tweeted about your company.

The best reason I can come up with as to why people do this is a combination of laziness and impatience. You dream that posting an affiliate link with make you millions as everyone clicks your link. Well it doesn’t work that way!

Over-twittering

Some people are tweeting and retweeting hundreds of times a day. I found some people that had some interesting motivational quotes but it was way too much to absorb. This is like information overload. Of course I can filter out such tweets but if I like your tweets, don’t overwhelm me!

Spamming a Fan Page

I just had someone who has never contributed anything to my fan page through discussions or comments, go and make two posts to the page – one was a link to his website and another was a video from his website. And it wasn’t even related to my topic or of interest to my fans.

You want to contribute to the pages, providing helping tips, etc and be more subtle. People will check your profile if they like what you post and find links to your site there.

Sending followers to sales pages

In many people’s haste and laziness to make a quick buck, they will often send people directly to a sales page. Would you buy something if you’ve never heard of the company and somebody starts selling you stuff? Instead send them to informative blog posts that could have links to your product there.

Reliance on Auto-Tweeting/Services

Since everyone’s so busy it can be tempting to use auto-bots like sending out tweets automatically. Don’t do it! I followed someone who was auto-tweeting some inspiration quotes every day and while I was initially loving this guy’s posts, it quickly became overwhelming. Plus I could see on the Twitter home page that he was automating it (’sent from API’) is often a good bet (API is application programming interface often used by bots and 3rd party services). Also don’t auto DM (Direct message) – also like selling me something when I don’t even know you.

Flame wars

This one’s been around for a while now, and are quite common in discussion forums, groups, and now Facebook comments and fan pages. Many social media marketing experts tell us to engage our potential customers online by answering questions and being helpful. If you start posting helpful information, you will likely get others who don’t agree with you and the ego battles can begin. Resist the temptation!

Bonus – Don’t ignore feedback (thanks to Twitterer @L_R_Sexton)

Social networks are conversations. Make sure you respond to customers or potential customers questions, or complaints. And don’t just fix the problem (if there is a complaint), fix the experience! Make it better than just fixing the initial grievance. Go an extra step to make it a memorable positive experience.