1. 7 Common Social Media Mistakes You Didnt Know You Are Making By Roadside Multimedia

2. 1. NOT COMMITTING TO SOCIAL MEDIA 3. Are you unfamiliar with the power of social media? 4. Some practices merely set up social profiles, only to desert them with no new content. Thus, these businesses do not achieve their goals of connecting with new patients and members of their community. 5. In social media, it is vital to be consistent and provide regular, engaging content. 6. As the old saying goes: You only get out as much as you put in. In other words, be sure you use social media to supply regular, quality content to your audience, and they will return the favor. 7. 2. LACK OF PLANNING 8. Would you start a business without any goals or achievements in mind? 9. Businesses need to set goals, develop a strategy, and then put their plan into place. Social media is no different. 10. Using social media without a strategy will result in a whole lot of noise and no direction. 11. Planning is vital! Plan to achieve a consistent message across all platforms and identify your brand. 12. 3. PUTTING ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET 13. WARNING! Social media is NOT the answer to ALL your marketing worries. 14. However, it should be an integral part to your entire marketing strategy. Not the sole venture. 15. When implemented with other marketing methods, social media can really boost your practices visibility by: Increasing brand awareness. Creating a community. Driving traffic to your site. Generating leads. Much more! 16. 4. GETTING GREEDY 17. You cant be everywhere at once. So, dont try to be. 18. Focus on where you need to be. Be great where it matters - whether on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or anywhere else your audience might gather. 19. Remember, each social network is different so treat them that way. What works on one might not work on another. Use a variety of social networks to complement each other. 20. 5. LACK OF EFFORT 21. With anything new, it is important to learn how it works, which takes effort. 22. You need to use social media to: Research. Listen. Read. Watch. 23. Follow social media influencers and learn how to use each social network to further your practice's marketing goals. Observe other businesses' use of social media and identify what works for them and what doesn't. 24. Some inspiring people to follow: Chris Brogan: @chrisbrogan Michael Stelzner: @Mike_Stelzner Mari Smith: @MariSmith Guy Kawasaki: @GuyKawasaki 25. 6. IT'S NOT ALL ME, ME, ME. 26. Social media is not all about self-promotion. In fact, only 1 in 4 posts on Facebook should be self-promoting. 27. It is more important to think how your content can help and benefit your audience. 28. Provide relevant posts. Do not constantly chase engagement through cute photos of cats or babies. 29. Produce content that aims to: Connect. Educate. Entertain. Engage. 30. 7. LOOKING AT THE WRONG SCORECARD 31. Make sure to engage with people and not numbers. Build your community and measure what happens there. 32. Do not become overly concerned with vanity metrics such as: Likes, Followers, or Fans. 33. Focus on tangible results such as engagement, website traffic, and click-through rates. 34. Most importantly, measure your goals by planning to measure. Don't be afraid to re-evaluate goals and set new targets. By measuring, you will learn what works and what doesn't.