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Social Media Blunders Most Internet Marketers Make

MP3 Podcast Version:

Mind you, as I brain-stormed this list with a few colleagues, it became lengthy. I widdled it down to the biggest blunders that can ultimately affect your success (building loyalty, branding, and increasing revenues) — and those blunders that are tied specifically to the internet marketing world. Certainly not to isolate a particular group online. We’re seeing record numbers of people, that’s business owners, solo-professionals, internet marketers, and more jumping on the social media bandwagon without really understanding it all.

The problem: from whatever perspective people come from, they automatically inject it’s philosophies and tactics into their social media strategy. Internet marketers are notorious creatures of habit and have been integrating social media in floods, often making killer mistakes.

Here’s a list of the top biggest blunders internet marketers make in social media:

They do not authentically participate in the “social” aspect of social media.

Yes, you want to systemize and automate many processes in social media (that’s the entire point behind the Web Success 2.0 mindset), but you can not systemize and automate relationships — a key component of social media. There is a balance, most don’t get it.

They do not understand that the money is no longer solely in the list.

So, they use social media to simply build their list. Then, they blast their list over and over and over, adding no real value in communicating with their social media audience. This is a sure-fire way to differentiate yourself from your more savvy competitors - not in a good way.

They do not know how to effectively use a blog.

Your blog (or company’s blog) can be one of the most important tools you have in integrating social media with marketing. It’s called conversion blogging (Yaro Starak does it best) and it’s extremely important to understand. It’s never, ever enough to just ramble, pitch, or not take your blog seriously. Your audience numbers will show for it and so will your social media effectiveness.

They don’t know how to change their language appropriately.

The glory days in DRM are over and while you’ll still see results, you’re not going to see the full potential of your message. You’re also going to continue to see a slide-down in the classic tactics of scarcity and emotional tugging. Today, it’s about the connection, the relationship - storytelling.

And, lastly, most internet marketers do not get the idea behind “value first, pitch later.”

One thing to remember, when you get them on your list or subscription feed, they are not giving you permission to market. Rather, you’ve been given the permission to interact and build a relationship, at some level beyond a number on your list. Everything else has to be presented in the context of appropriate, valuable, and timely dialogue. No, “heah, I let’s connect and by the way, buy my stuff.”

Whether you’re making one or all of these mistakes, the result is still the same — you’ll always hit under the mark and never leverage the full potential social media presents in online marketing. It’s time to sit back and examine, where does it really make sense to integrate social media into your internet marketing and are you really sure your adapting your total strategies to the current times.

Target, engage, AND convert!

Photo Credit: JVManna on Flickr

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