Social Media Don'ts

I am fairly new to the Social Media wave. My expertise is in print media so I am experimenting with sites like Facebook and Twitter as a business platform. Many people are jumping on the social media bandwagon as the greatest thing since canned beer. Others are convinced that it is a temporary craze that will burn itself out.

I don't have an opinion about the future of social media, but I have formed an opinion that many of the people online who are trying to market themselves or a product via social media might learn more from a slightly slower method.

I don't have a lot of advice about "how to" do this sort of marketing, but I have some advice about how not to.

Here are some of my pet peeves:

1. Tweets per hour is not a contest. Right now my limit is 25/hour. If I see a run of more than that on my page, you are gone. I don't care what you are selling, sharing or giving away. Go away. You are annoying. I will be shortening this up as I go along and I want to see what the more effective marketers are doing.

2. ANSWER your customers. Social media is supposed to be SOCIAL, when someone asks you a question, answer it. If you are so busy posting, tweeting, copying and pasting that you can't answer a question, don't expect that person to come back.

3. Be aware of what is going on in your own little corner of the internet. Don't tweet, post and blog about special offers, big news or new products when your site is down. Yes, stuff happens, usually at the worst time. How long does it take to make sure your site is operating properly before you blast the online universe with your ads?

4. If you are selling information and advice about marketing I would like to see what you have marketed, besides your own advice about marketing. Some of this stuff is just blatant pyramid schemes and some of it is earnest, well meaning advice from someone who has never actually put together a marketing campaign for a product, successful or not.

I'm sure I will have more as I get more experience myself. Perhaps I will even develop some of those "how to" rules.