In general, small and medium-sized companies have little budget allocated to advertising. That is why many entrepreneurs are trying to explore social media and use it as a marketing tool. The most popular social networking sites are intuitive and easy to navigate, making it easy to use them to get likes, share content and images, add friends, and gain followers. However, to reach the heights of well-developed business profiles, your social media presence needs to be managed properly and in great depth. By trying to do this, some of them are making mistakes that could ruin any social profile and make it useless for business and marketing purposes. In this article, you can see some of the most common mistakes small and medium business owners should avoid.

1. Jump into the unknown. The first and most common mistake is exploring social media without preparation, planning, or at least some basic research. Most business owners have experience in their fields of work. On the other hand, a social network that they would like to use as a marketing tool should not be treated simply as a place to share, share and chat. Twitter, G+ and Facebook can be part of your business strategy to attract more customers. Start by posting awesome content, cool images showcasing your work, fill out your bio, enter your correct address, etc. You should also include links to projects you have already completed.

2. Where is my pass? Once activated, some business owners simply leave their social profiles. They just don’t open them or regularly update them with at least some content, new images or videos. Your newly generated followers or customers will soon turn on you if you don’t respond to their questions or social interactions. You should check your account at least 2-3 times a week and if possible every day. This will cost you only 10 – 15 minutes.

3. Spam! The online environment is replete with myriad spam techniques that can easily attract any inexperienced Internet user willing to increase their online presence. These spam techniques easily lure business owners by promising fast and fantastic results. When used, the spam approach could give amazing results in a week. However, soon after, search engine spiders will detect and penalize the source of spam for quite some time. Just stick to the most conservative and legitimate ways to popularize your social presence. For example, submit your Twitter account to trusted directories.

4. Too many profiles. Taking care of multiple profiles requires time and resources. It’s really tempting to be “everywhere on the web”, but it’s hard to achieve that goal. Once started, your social profiles need to be maintained and updated regularly. Review your resources very carefully and consider the time you can devote to them. Just pick the most popular networks: Twitter, Facebook, G+ and develop those marketing tools very well. Also, you can create a YouTube video channel and upload short videos of your work. The camera quality of any smartphone should be good enough to make a viral video.

5. Lack of publicity. Once properly developed and regularly updated, your social profiles should start to generate interest. However, this is enough to get started. Some business owners will avoid paying for online advertising, while it is, in fact, a good investment. A properly targeted AdWords campaign will return every dollar invested in it.