This is a Guest Post by Alicia Cowan. Alicia is a certified social media specialist. Her idea of fun is supporting clever entrepreneurs to get social media right so they can stop wasting time and start seeing results.
You know social media. You've set up your accounts and visit them often. You've got e-v-e-r-y-thing running like clockwork.

But have you?

If you’re not getting leads as a result of your efforts you might be making mistakes without even realizing it. But that’s okay! We all make mistakes.

Read on to find out 5 of the most common and how to rectify them:


1. The ‘Dine n’ Dash’

We’re all busy and have important business to attend to but sharing back-to-back updates (and flooding your follower’s streams in the process) then leaving is pointless.

Especially if you don’t reply to anyone who responds to your messages.

When your news stream is swamped with updates from one person it can be really tiresome.

With the selection of tools available to assist your social media management there really is no excuse for the Dine n’ Dash approach to updating your profiles.

And, as communication is the foundation of social media, if you’re not having conversations, then what are you doing?

Solution

Drip feed your messages using a management tool to schedule your updates. Hootsuite and Buffer are my favorites.

This will keep you visible more often to more people (because people dip in and out at different times).

That means more potential for creating valuable connections. Plus, your profile will become a familiar constant rather than a periodic irritation, and that will do wonders for brand You.

Always, always respond, reply and react to messages you receive otherwise save your time and try advertising instead.


2. You Over share

No one wants to know that you work in your PJs or how annoying you find your clients. (okay, maybe we do but purely for our own entertainment.)

Think about it. Is that the impression you want to portray on line? After all, you’re there to promote your products, service or blog – we may be doing business together one day!

Solution

If it’s something you wouldn’t want your boss/parent/a tabloid journalist to know then don’t share it. Think of posting something interesting that will be of value instead.


3. You’re A Robot

If you think social media is about technology think again. It’s just another way to communicate.

An amazingly, amplified, awesome way!

Automating all of your messages or feeding your updates across your various profiles (more on that particular sin below) is like expecting your voice-mail message to schedule your meetings and convert prospects into customers.

Don’t get me wrong, some automation is okay. Scheduling your updates throughout the day helps you reach more people while making the most of your time. Some Twitter specific auto actions to avoid include:

• Auto Direct Message people who follow you. We know you’re not really there and we've only just met so, no I don’t want your latest e-book, thanks. Unless, of course you've mentioned in your bio that you’ll be sending it over when I follow you...

• Auto follow me when I follow you. You’re setting yourself up to receive loads of spam Direct Messages. That’s no concern of mine but it will annoy the hell out of you.

• Using TruTwit validation. Do you really get so much spam that you need me to verify that I’m human? What’s more, it’s not exactly a nice way to start a new relationship. You've just asked if I’m a robot and expect me to jump through another hoop in my already busy day to follow you. No thanks.

4. You Think All Social Media Platforms Are Equal

Some think that feeding their Twitter posts through to Facebook and LinkedIn or vice versa is the answer to managing their social media. Using the same strategy for all social networking platforms is a very common mistake. Please stop!

First understand that every social network has a different culture.

• Twitter has a unique language that doesn’t translate in other platforms. You also want to be sending a lot of messages each day to make an impact. Doing this anywhere else online does not work unless your aim is to be a nuisance.

• Facebook updates containing images are the most visible (and the character limit is sooo long it practically doesn’t exist). If you’re auto feeding your Facebook messages to Twitter, you run the risk of your message being cut by Twitter’s 140 character limit. Why not spread out a little and make use of Facebook’s massive one?

• LinkedIn is a professional network. Users are there to do business. They don’t want to hear about your evening at the cinema. Save that for Twitter.

Solution
Spend time on each platform and get to understand the differences. You need to be showing up and mindful of your objectives for each. Spreading yourself too thinly will achieve low results and wasted time. If this is your personal experience, choose one profile and be excellent at it rather than a number of them and not making any impact.


5. You Play A Numbers Game

Obsessing about how many connections you have is a waste of energy and a massive distraction. Worse, periodically updating us on your progress, or asking for help to achieve your goal of achieving X number of followers is super duper dull.

Solution

Stop fussing about the numbers. Concentrate on providing interesting stuff, joining in meaningful conversations and having fun, the rest will fall in to place. Think quality relationships over quantity, build a community of fans that love what you do and happily spread your messages instead. That’s when the magic happens.

There you have my round up of common social media mistakes! But, with it being an ever-evolving area, and new people joining to make fresh mistakes every day there are many more out there.

So it’s over to you. What mistakes are you seeing as you go about your day on social media?