In this busy and competitive world everyone is trying hard to make a right impression. The media of communication may be anything like in person, phone, email or any other thing. We are trying all practice like, spend time crafting a solid email introduction, make sure our hair is neat and breath is fresh. But when it comes to social media marketing, some of us show up with bad form and no game plan.

Social Media Campaign

Social Media Campaign

There’s a lot of great information out there in the Web to help us start off on the right foot and navigate this emerging medium. If you can avoid committing these five social media marketing pitfalls, you should be on your way to social success.

1. Lack of Game Plan:
Hesitation and over thinking have no place in social media marketing. If you’re going to engage, you need to commit to do it and get going. However, this doesn’t mean going in guns blazing with no clear goals in mind. You need to put together some sort of strategy about your audience and information.

2. Less Commitment
Starting out in social media marketing is a little overwhelming, but if you have decided to dive in, you’d better be in it for the long haul. Going social takes perseverance; it’s not for those who crave instant gratification, or need to be able to quantify ROI within a week. It’s a process that takes time. You’re attempting to build trust and authentic connections in a world that, let’s face it – doesn’t really trust “business” anymore. Be sure you can make this a regular part of your marketing process.

3. No Buy-in
If you’re the only one in your organization that has bought into the fact that social media is here to stay and not some “fad” then you’re in for an uphill struggle. Without buy-in from key decision makers you’re not going to get the respect, resources and support your organization needs to do this and do it well.

4. No Patience
You posted your first tweet yesterday. Today, you’re tapping your foot in frustration wondering where all of your followers are. Or you finally connected with the perfect client on LinkedIn last week and they haven’t lined up for your product yet. You’re setting yourself up for disappointment with that mentality. Social media marketing is all about an exchange of ideas and information and providing value to your audience. Remember – it’s about establishing a relationship.

5. Selling
The quickest way to kill your chances for developing is to start out by pushing your products and services on people. You will come off as someone who is desperate to sell something, not share ideas. And social is all about sharing.