Social media marketing holds a special allure for startups; it is definitely a vehicle to propel your new business forward fast, gain momentum, and then maintain and build on that momentum. However; social media has to be done right and in order to execute it properly you have to begin strong; know what to do and what to avoid. As a newcomer, you get only one chance to make a good first impression with folks on social media. If you lose that chance you’re going to fall behind and stragglers have to work twice as hard to cover lost ground on social sites. So know these cardinal sins that you must never commit, because if you do then it’s a quick descent to the purgatory of social media irrelevance.

1. You don’t have to be everywhere. Yes, the temptation is strong because of the perception that every social media site is a fertile hunting ground for prospects. And if you’re not going to get
them, somebody else might. Startups’ that have followed this path have quickly discovered that it is not easy to devote time and energy to come up with original and relevant content for many different social networks. It results in a poor foundation for the whole social media marketing process. For starters, only choose the networks that have the most targeted prospects and the largest audience. As you expand sales and build your team you can experiment with other networks, but out of the gate you must focus on quality over quantity.

2. Don’t be that guy. Extensive promotions without focusing on engagement with the audience is akin to committing social media suicide. Self-promotion is fine but finer still is the balance that you need to strike between interesting content and engagement on one hand and marketing on the other. Follow the 80/20 rule. Getting the balance wrong has put many a startup on the one-way road to social media oblivion. Creative marketing will get you audience and accolades; old-fashioned one-way advertising derived from an offline marketing mindset will only hurt your business.

3. Failing to plan is planning to fail. Hope is not a strategy with social media marketing or any other form of marketing for that matter. It doesn’t matter how great your product or service is if people don’t trust you or know about you. If you’re expecting to go viral and have people flock to your business by the thousands, stop now. They won’t. You have to create a buzz and let people know you’re there.

Cross-pollination of content, quizzes, polls, and videos will help, but you need to establish a posting schedule and follow it so that your audience begins to get used to your presence and know that you engage. Plan with your objective in mind, it could be leads, brand recognition, or sales. Clear objectives simplify planning and execution as well as enables you to measure results and track ROI.

4. Boring content is counterproductive. While the objective should be to attract eyeballs and stimulate engagement, the basic threshold below which you shouldn’t go is – don’t bore them. Unfortunately, it is possible to turn people off in a number of ways on social media, sometimes without even knowing that you are doing it. Talk with the audience, don’t talk to them. Don’t barge into timelines with dull opening lines. Make an impressive entry with a humor, an intelligent response, a genuine question, etc. Infuse your personality into your posts.

Crack these and you’re on your way to selling without selling. Your objective is to attract eyeballs and stimulate engagement, so don’t bore people. Be careful that you are not turning people off without even knowing that you are doing it.

5. Stay enthusiastic. Don’t let your enthusiasm fade; don’t let the momentum tail off. Many startups tend to lose steam after a strong start, sometimes out of laziness and lack of focus and very often because of impatience. A social media program is more like a marathon than a sprint. Tweak performance by measuring metrics, tracking competition, and adapting to what your audience is telling you with their behavior.

Know your audience and be prepared to put in effort. Not everyone has a natural wit with a flair for language. Work on these things and there is every chance you’ll find that coming up with cool stuff for your audience and showing that you care isn’t such a chore. It’s an enjoyable thing to do. Enjoy it.