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Being “social” is not enough. It’s easy to  create social media accounts for your small business. The hard part is making sure you’re using them right.

If you already have your social profiles all set up, you may want to go over this checklist to ensure you’re not making the same mistakes others do. If you have yet to become active on social media, take note of these common blunders so you can avoid them.

1. Hard selling.
If you see social media only as another advertising platform, you likely are starting off on the wrong foot.

Remember how social platforms are used by individuals on a daily basis. These are tools that connect you with family and friends. It’s not necessarily something a typical user will want to see filled with advertisements all day.

There’s nothing wrong with “selling” on social media. This has to be part of your goal, for one. However, it should not be the single purpose of your every post.

Instead of viewing your social media accounts as an advertising tool, see it first as a way to get to know people that matter to your business. Use it to give your business a human face. Focus firsts on building relationships and creating quality content rather than selling.

2. Posting only about you.
While it’s no doubt your own account, this doesn’t mean your posts should be all about your business. Make it about people around you too.

Create your own social media content calendar to ensure you get a good matrix of posts.

This means including posts from your followers, people or organization you follow, and as much as possible, your own posts that are helpful rather than self-serving. This will require research on posts that your followers are most likely to be interested in. And then giving them more of those type of content.

Inform and educate people. Let them join in the conversation, which brings us to the next number on our list.

3. Ignoring comments and messages.
Not responding to comments or messages, especially the negative ones may affect your business more than you think.

If your clients are active on social media, they’ll most likely use your accounts to reach out to you. Whether that is to commend your services or share negative feedback or comments, expect someone to drop you a message.

Assign someone or better yet, work with social media professionals to help you manage your accounts. Respond to messages, converse with active users, and make people feel they are being listened to.

You don’t want to be deemed as someone that’s only there for self-promotion. On the upside, you never know when you’re getting your next sale or client just by connecting with your followers on social media.

4. Being too active everywhere.
Get to know your target audience and find out where they tend to be most active on social media.

You don’t have to be on every single social media platform. But you need to be where your existing and prospective clients are.

As soon as you roll out your new social media marketing campaign, be sure to take note of your posting frequency. You don’t want to annoy your followers by being too active, but you’ll want everyone to know your account is alive and you regularly update it.

Don’t spread yourself too thin but don’t overdo it as well. Always check insights on your account to see how your page is doing. You may be attracting the wrong demographic without knowing it.

5. Not having a lead generation strategy.
Because you can’t be self-promotional throughout, you need to create a lead generation strategy.

Give so you can get something in return. Help your followers any way you can. Share their content too, but don’t rely on your social media accounts alone to grow traffic. Instead, use your social media accounts as a tool to help you achieve your marketing goals.

Internet marketing companies can help you review strategies you’re currently using to see where changes may be appropriate. Don’t be one of those companies losing money because of poor use of their social media accounts.

Being on social media and getting something good from it for your small business shouldn’t be costly.

You need not do everything on your own. Give more time for your business by letting social media professionals help you manage your accounts. Avoid these mistakes small business owners make and make social media work to your advantage.

Need assistance getting started on your social media marketing campaigns? Talk to us today at Web Chimpy and we’ll help you look into the best course of action to take.