Failure in social networking is almost so much easier than achieving success. Creating and developing a successful presence takes time and is something that many small brands are unwilling to understand. From my own experience, I tell you that some, previously advised, are still in urgent need. 

But, what are the main mistakes that companies comment on Social Networks? 

1. Do not develop a voice of their own

Most small businesses are often very concerned about the image that others perceive about them and are therefore afraid of “messing up”. When this happens, the company tends to be shy and too correct in its publications, which makes it unnatural and boring.

I only dedicate to share information of autopromoción or links on the sector, error. You have to mix the messages in our content strategy. 

Eg from time to time to say good morning, thanks to those who start to follow us, a touch of humor, etc. In the end, a brand with a human touch is essential. Eye !, go mixing the communication, does not mean taking the publications in a way too relaxed. 

2. Do not participate in the conversation

Social media are channels of double direction. Your community is not going to be there just to be receptive of your messages, if not to interact. 

If you find it difficult for them to interact with you, it throws questions, debates, brings value to the conversations. How many brands on Twitter launch one-way messages in their accounts? Many. 

Monitor what they say no longer about your brand, if not about your sector, about your locality. This post is not aimed at Coca Cola or Zara, if you should worry about monitoring your brand to see what they say about it, but to the “Menganito Training Academy” Huelva if you should be interested in some keywords like “training, huelva, Employment, tutoring, languages, etc. “(depending on the type of training you give). 

In this sense, Twitter monitoring is an action that improves the ROI of that medium. 

Another example, if I am a toy store “toys, gifts, birthdays, communion”. I recently commented on the case of having been looking for a toy store in Madrid that had a large catalog of playmobil and did not get a response, so I know that much remains to be done in this sector. 

The SOLOMO strategy to which SMEs are not yet able to take advantage. 

3. Not having a strategy

Without a doubt, what we can not do when starting our presence in social networks, is not having a defined strategy. What do you want to achieve? What is your objective? In fact, where is your potential target? What do I want to achieve in each social network ?. 

So, when two months pass, you have 20 fans on Facebook and 35 followers on Twitter, what are you going to do? Will your goals have been achieved? Will you be happy or sad? Will you see your aspirations full? 

Ah! Wow, you did not know what you wanted to get. Well, nothing like that, and you’ll see that wonderful waste of time. 

Go back and set realistic goals if possible. 

Improve your sales by 5%, increase your online community by 15%, improve your web traffic, that point to your newsletter? What do you want to get? 

A strategy is vital if you want to progress. Do you know what you want to achieve with the configuration of your profiles in social networks ?. If the time and investment you have dedicated to each of your goals does not correspond to your results, you will need to change the strategy, right? 

4. Number of Updates

It is difficult to achieve relevance without three factors: own content, a human touch (very personalized brand), And the number of updates (understand the platforms). 

For that, we must understand each of the platforms where we move. How do users and brands behave on Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin ?. 

That’s another big problem that brands have not yet solved, understand the platforms. But I include it within this section as they are closely related. 

If we do not update our profiles with assiduity we will have many difficulties to have visibility and recognition in Social Media. Some brands may think that to publish content “meaningless” better not publish. Maybe, if those brands believe that they have nothing to say, they should not get into social networks. 

I have worked with sectors (sewage or engineering aluminum profiles) initially “unfriendly” for Social Media, who believed very little in this channel and who with a careful strategy have been achieving their goals: increase their profits, save costs , New professional contacts, being referential in the sector, etc. 

We must know that on Twitter we can publish daily, with an average of 3-10 tweets or Facebook to have 3-5 weeks (this is just an example, then measure and see what works best for you). 

What we can not do, for example, is to link our Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin accounts and publish the same content on each network. Sometimes I look at Linkedin and it scares me to see updates from some users who understand this network like Twitter. And not, Linkedin is not Twitter. 

5. Social Omnipresence

When you mark your strategy from the beginning, this problem usually disappears. You can be present on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube, Vimeo, Instagram, Slideshare or Pinterest. 

If you do it is because you have a professional team behind you that will be in charge of updating those channels and of course time available. 

In many cases, it is interesting to monitor the presence of your competition, see where they are and how they are doing. You can also analyze after a trial period, which social networks are best associated with your potential customers and your goals. 

It is possible that any of these social networks that you did not trust will give you better results than you think. 

There are other mistakes like bad spelling or publishing offensive or inappropriate content (online reputation, care) that companies usually do on social networks. 

What is in your opinion the main mistake of a SME in Social Networks?