Social media is here to stay and although it took a while for some companies to get the big picture, these days no serious self-respecting business entity exists without some form of social media presence.

Having a social media presence however is not a sure ticket to success and in fact for many companies has led to a downward spiral in the exact opposite direction. You see the problem is many companies dive head first into the social media fray without properly understanding the finer aspects and nuances involved in successful social media interaction.

The purpose of this article is to help you avoid the common cardinal mistakes that have thwarted many an aspiring company’s social media dreams. The following is a list of the major mistakes commonly made:

1. Being A Cheapskate

First Impressions Mean Everything Online, image is everything so if your social media page looks tacky and unprofessional that’s the exact impression your hurriedly fleeing visitors will have foremost in mind. The point to take to heart here is don’t be a cheapskate when it comes to design.

Unless you are an expert professional graphic designer leave the designing to the professionals even if it means spending money; you’ll be compensated many times over for the effort somewhere down the road.

2. Constant Self Promotion

Nothing gets you blacklisted faster than constantly promoting yourself or your products in social media circles.

Yes! Yes! Yes…

I understand that your company is in the business of making a profit but you must understand that the rules of marketing engagement are different in social media.

In fact the rules of online marketing have pretty much completely changed in the past few years and nowhere more so than on social media sites. Bottom line is that nobody appreciates the traditional sales pitch anymore.

If you want to make it in social media you better become part of the community first, that’s how you will acquire new clients.

3. It’s All About Me, Me, Me And More Me.

It’s been said that the one common characteristic to all successful people is that they are good listeners. People appreciate individuals who take an interest (or at least seem to, like politicians) in what they have to say and what is going on in their lives.

This same attitude also exists online especially in social media. So, if you want to gain influence and traction in social media sites you should spend more time listening and responding to other participants’ requests and needs rather than constantly droning on about yourself.

4. No Monetization Strategy In Place

Far too often a good number of companies striving to acquire a new client base from social media sites get lost in the thrill of having countless followers without considering how they are going to monetize such new clients.

As a business with the goal of reaping a profit it behooves you to have a strategy in place whereby you can monetize your efforts from social media. From a business perspective it is pointless having thousands of followers on Twitter or friends on Facebook if they are of no monetary value.

5. Don’t Be Rude

As a business you should always bear in mind that offline age-old mantra “The customer is always right!” May be it is the apparent anonymity afforded by pecking away unseen at a keyboard from locations undisclosed, but the ugly fact is that people online nowadays seem to be quite at home hurling profanities and abuse at complete strangers.

If you or your company happens to fall in the cross-hairs of one of these profanity-fests resist the urge to join the fray and instead take the proverbial moral ground. By indulging in online abuse and profanity you are ultimately damaging your company’s brand value.

6. Follow Up In A Timely Fashion

Few things are more annoying in social media circles than having messages left unattended for long periods of time. People will quickly abandon your brand if you don’t give them due and polite consideration on your social media pages. Remember it is you who is hoping and trying to get money from them not vice versa.

7. Ignoring Negative Reviews

The cardinal rule in social media reputation management is to confront negative reviews immediately and turn the experience around. The classic tale of a major company ignoring this rule goes way back and was aptly titled “Dell Hell” by the aggrieved customer. The moral to take home here is that it is better to address negative criticism then redress it rather than hide like an ostrich sticking its head in the sand to avoid impending danger.

8. Not Targeting Specific Niche Markets

Another common mistake made by many a fledgling business is trying to target the whole world as your potential client base. This strategy never works and most commonly results in wasted funds spent on futile marketing campaigns.

The thing to remember is that not everybody is your target market.

You will have better ROI (return on investment) by identifying and concentrating on a particular niche.

9. Stand Out From The Crowd

Social media is about involvement and engagement. You are just one of millions of competitors so you need to have something interesting to say or at least say it in a way that makes people want to listen and follow you.

Resist the policy adopted by far too many companies that insist on following the traditional method of promotion with boring third-person descriptions on their social media pages.

10. Show Them You’re An Expert.

Given the choice people would rather listen to an expert than an amateur, so always ensure that your content portrays you as an expert in your field. That extra time you take to produce quality content will be amply rewarded many times over by grateful readers.