Social media is successful and unsuccessful; success does not depend on products, service or size of a respective business. Often, what separate the good from god-awful engagements are particular mistakes, or worse ‘sins.’

Take note of the following social media transgressions, swearing an oath that you and workers will abstain from making them. Avoid common social ‘sins’ of lust, sloth, pride and more.

Lust

Intense desire for attention can cause a social media team to favour its own brand. Like Narcissus, some brands get too self-involved, becoming unaware such selfishness is annoying, and not effective in engaging advocates and followers. Rather than lusting after celebrity status, ensure the brand engages as to come across being social and not egotistical.

Sloth

Brands want to make an impact using social media platforms yet reserve only a few minutes per day if even that to the affair. Little attention gains small numbers of followers and zero attention. Successful brands devote several hours per day toward social media efforts. Use a digital promotion service if you cannot devote the in-house staff.

Pride

Sometimes brands do not respond to consumer inquires or questions, too prideful to engage in conversations with the ‘little people’ who double as those investing in mentioned brands.

Successful brands learn more about targeted markets by engaging; not only responding to consumer questions, but being proactive in forming relationships. Don’t be too prideful as not to ‘follow’ or be ‘friends’ with potential consumer advocates.

Envy

Monitor other brands, and pay close attention to competitors, but don’t grow so envious as to copy the strategy of others. Be unique; customers using social media handles can tell the difference between those who are genuine and those just looking for a quick sale. Perhaps it’s better to elect one or more in-house people who enjoy engaging the public for social media teams.

Wrath

Some with instant access to worldwide platforms do more harm than good for associated brands. A number of parties have been known to ‘lose face’ in minutes due to distasteful posts, inebriated executives, and poor leveraging poor choices of words during national disasters.

Greed

Of course, each business seeks to advance and make as much sales possible. However, social media is a (free) gift. Originating as a friend and family tool, social media is incredibly useful for commercial efforts, yet brands need to be mindful of ‘pitching’ versus engaging.

A number of small businesses seek traditional public relations agencies for social media help as well as campaign adoption.

Gluttony

Don’t ‘over-do’ it when it comes to sharing.  Be mindful of leveraged hashtags. For example, studies reflect that including more than two hashtags in one post or tweet dramatically decreases chances of subsequent engagement.

It’s important to identify what content resonates with your target market; additionally, it’s important to identify when to limit number of tweets. When it comes to success in using social media, knowing when to leave content out is just as beneficial as knowing when to share and what modes of content (video, pictures, audio) to supply.