Social Media Marketing For Dummies®

Chapter 15. Avoiding Ten Common Mistakes

You may follow all the right steps with your social influence marketing efforts and still fail. In fact, however frightening it may seem you may fail completely. The reason is that you may overlook the ten common mistakes of SIM. Steer clear of common mistakes in this chapter, and you have a better chance at enjoying a successful social influence marketing campaign.

Encroaching on Customers' Time

Many companies forget that their customers can have a limited number of conversations at once. They often gravitate to specific social platforms for coincidental reasons, but once they're on them, it's hard to move away. They become accustomed to that social environment, invest in it through their contributions, and bring their friends on board.

Any company thinking of starting a conversation with its customers must begin by asking where its customers currently spend their time, how willing they might be to move their conversations to a new location, and whether they can manage another set of conversations. If you don't think this through before you build something, you may have an empty community.

Your Customers Don't Want to Hear You

The social Web is fundamentally about people talking to each other about subjects that are of interest to them. It isn't designed to be a marketing vehicle. However, some brands naturally have permission, in a manner of speaking, to be a part of those conversations, while others may not. It's important to know whether your ...