Social media has had a profound impact on the way companies market their products and services. Did you think Facebook and Twitter wouldn’t last when they first appeared? Many of us did, but we were wrong! Social media has taken most of the world by storm and if you are a business owner, you definitely need to incorporate social media marketing into your business plans.

Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and LinkedIn have grown faster than radio or television! Social media has had such a huge impact on business that over 70% of businesses now have a Facebook page.

Social media takes time and work and needs to be done effectively. Below is a list of ten social media mistakes and what you can do to prevent them from happening.

1. Not being consistent – ​​You can’t post to your Facebook page or tweet here and there. You need to come up with a social media plan and schedule the time you spend on your social sites.

What you can do: Create a daily and weekly social media schedule and stick to it. Plan to spend maybe an hour a day working on your social sites. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Pick a couple of the best sites and give them the time and attention they need to work their magic. I would recommend Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

2. No Interaction – When people comment or post on your pages, you need to reply and thank them. If you don’t respond to people who visit your page, they will simply stop visiting your page.

What you can do: Check your sites at least twice a day to see if anyone has posted or left comments. Take the time to answer them in detail – a quick thank you won’t always be enough! Then you should go visit their site and reciprocate. This will help keep your pages active.

3. Not adding personality: You want your social sites to be a fun and friendly place to visit, but you also need to keep it professional. Don’t post a bunch of cloned comments with no personality.

What you can do: Treat your page as if it were a meeting place for you and your customers. Talk about cool stuff, offer specials and contests, keep things fresh and new. This will make your page come alive with personality!

4. Don’t link accounts: If you have multiple social sites and a blog, you need to link them all together so people can find them.

What you can do: Put your social site links on your blog or main site. Use widgets and/or plugins that allow your visitors to easily connect to your social pages. Have your posts go out to all your social sites instead of one at a time.

5. Don’t Ask for Likes and Follows – Don’t be afraid to ask people to like your page or follow your account. This can greatly increase your social activity.

What you can do: Put a request in your email signature, put it on your business card, put it on all your office stationery. Post your links whenever possible and ask for the following. You have to incorporate your social media into all parts of your marketing.

6. No quality content – ​​You need to give people a reason to want to visit your social sites. After all, there are millions of pages, so you definitely have to offer something of value.

What you can do: Post links to helpful articles, offer small details if there is helpful information, post special sales, offer coupons and prizes. Contests are very popular, so try to run a fun and easy contest every month. Give all those people a reason to keep coming back!

7. No calls to action: People are more likely to respond to a sale or service if you give them clear and concise calls to action.

What you can do: A call to action can be as simple as “Click here to subscribe” or “Read the full article.” Use as many as appropriate for your visitors to take the desired action. When you post something, you can ask people to retweet or share it on your Facebook page. Offer discounts on your products with calls to action like “Click here to get $25.00 off your first order” or “Click the button for a special offer.” The possibilities are endless and effective!

8. Not writing effective profiles – Your profile is the first impression most people will have of you, so you want it to be impressive. Simply slapping your name and hometown isn’t going to get the job done. A complete and well-written profile will help build your credibility.

What you can do: End your profiles completely. Add a professional-looking photo of yourself. List your qualifications and why people would benefit from your products or services. Do not leave blank spaces or information without completing. Read your profile from your visitors’ point of view. Would you visit your page for what you see?

9. Not Proofreading: Bad grammar and spelling can make a good page go bad.

What you can do: Read your post as you write it, and then read it again when you’re done. It also helps if you have someone else read it because they might notice things you’ve missed. Make sure all your posts, tweets, etc. are written correctly and look professional.

10. Getting too personal: We’ve all seen them. The posts and tweets that said something like: I’m watching Rambo tonight but he gave me a headache so I’m going to bed! Or I went shopping today and bought my baby a new pair of booties. Posts like these don’t belong on business pages, so make sure you don’t get too personal when posting.

What you can do: Visit other successful social pages and check out the kinds of things they post. Provide information that really helps your visitors and benefits them. Getting a haircut is great, but it doesn’t help your potential customers. Although, it will probably annoy them! So with every post you write, ask yourself, would this help my visitors?

Social media marketing has opened doors with incredible speed and power, so if you’re not leveraging that successfully, you need to start learning and opening those accounts on social sites.