What Not to Do with Social Media

Social media can be beneficial for small businesses. Let's say you own a local pizza restaurant. If you have a Facebook or Twitter profile, you can let your fans or followers know about upcoming deals. The fans can then share this information with their friends, resulting in possible new customers to your restaurant.

While this may sound like a good thing, there are also mistakes that can occur. Timothy Carter of Small Business Trends shares five small business social media mistakes.

1. Trying to do too much.

If you want to use social media well, it requires a time commitment. It is better to use one social media platform and keep customers and fans informed, rather than have a profile for every platform and not be effective. After you get the hang of it, if you feel confident, then you can create a profile on other social media platforms.

2. Wasting resources on ineffective social media campaigns.

The profiles that are created may or may not work. You have to measure the success of each page you have. If your Twitter profile is reaching more people and is more successful than Facebook, then you want to focus more attention to the Twitter page. You want to keep doing what works, and reevaluate what doesn't work.

3. Missed branding opportunities.

When you create a new profile on a social media site, you want to share as much information as you can. This can include a business description, address, phone number, website link and more. The more information you share, the easier it is for potential customers to find your business.

4. Speaking without listening.

Not only is it important to listen to what your customers say, but it is also important to respond to them. If someone praises your business, you want to thank them for their nice words. If someone has concerns, you want to help them in a kind way. Also, listening to your customers will allow you as a business owner to learn what they want. This will allow the customers to feel like they have a say in your business.

5. Leaving social media platforms unattended or inactive.

As I mentioned earlier, social media requires a time commitment. You have to post to your pages frequently. If you don't, someone who comes across your page may believe you are out of business. That is something you don't want people to automatically assume about your business.

I think having one profile with frequent posts and responses to customers can help your business more than having multiple profiles on various social media platforms, but not giving each profile the same amount of time and attention. An effective profile can let customers and fans learn more information about any upcoming deals or events. Perhaps that one profile can bring in a new customer, who will tell their friends about your business.