With no shortage of self proclaimed experts and would-be gurus, many are making these common (and easily avoidable) mistakes.

1. THE TOP 10 SOCIAL MEDIA
WORST
PRACTICES
TEN COMMON MISTAKES THAT ALMOST EVERYONE MAKES

2. WHO IS THE SUPERGROUP?
We are a digital agency that
blends great ideas with the
latest interactive technology to
create entertaining, memorable
experiences.
EXPERTISE:
Interactive Marketing
Digital Media Production

3. INTRODUCTION
WHY A WORST LIST?
With social media being the buzz phrase of the hour,
many companies and agencies are scrambling to
incorporate social media strategies in order to avoid
looking out of touch or behind-the-times.
Unfortunately, few truly understand how to effectively
leverage the medium, and often make at least one of the
common mistakes presented here.
Luckily, they are easy to avoid!

4. #10: NOT ESTABLISHING A VOICE
BRANDS AREN’T PEOPLE
Social media is about socializing, which is person-to-
person. Despite what the supreme court says,
corporations are not a person, and people can’t form a
personal connection to a talking logo.
WHO’S SPEAKING?
People want to know who’s talking to them. The CEO?
VP of Marketing? Intern? Lunatic? And remember, social
media is about personality - be charismatic!

5. #9: ADVERTISING
NOBODY LIKES ADS!
Remember, unlike traditional media, your content is only
consumed voluntarily - so it has to be valuable and
important enough to pay attention to.
Otherwise, your posts are just SPAM.

6. #8: ONE-DIMENSIONAL THINKING
SOCIAL MEDIA IS MORE PR THAN MARKETING
PR targets the press to convince them that something is
newsworthy.
Similarly, your social media end goal should always be to
convince your network that something is share-worthy.
In other words, it’s not who you’re connected to, but
who your connections are connected to, and what you
can get them to say about you.

7. #7: LACK OF FOCUS
WHY ARE YOU LEVERAGING SOCIAL MEDIA?
No, “because we have to” isn’t a good answer.
Social Media is only effective if its utilized with a specific
goal or goals in mind.
Each goal has a different tactic in order to achieve
success, and a different metric to gauge success by.

8. #6: DRIVING TRAFFIC TO THE WRONG PLACE
SOCIAL MEDIA SHOULD BE A FUNNEL
Always drive traffic to a central place, like your website
or blog - not to someone else’s!
Don’t just share what someone else said – share what
you have to say ABOUT what someone else said.
Be a thought leader, not a link sharer.

9. #6: RAMBLING EXECUTIVES & EMPLOYEES
NOBODY CARES!
Don’t delegate your executives or employees to share
random thoughts, or whatever mundane task they’re
currently engaged in.
Better to only update once every few days with
something remarkable than to constantly post yawn-
inducing drivel.

10. #4: FORGETTING ABOUT SEO
GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND
People are still most likely to discover your content,
including social media content, through search results.
Have a focused SEO effort, and treat your social media
outreach as an extension of that effort.
And remember: linking from social media to your
website does NOT improve search rankings. It’s not that
easy!

11. #3: NOT ENGAGING WITH OTHERS
YOU’VE GOT TO GIVE TO GET BACK
If you want more twitter followers, then follow others.
If you want more comments, comment more often.
If you want a blog writer to comment on your company
or promotion, write a blog about them.
If you want people to watch your YouTube videos,
subscribe to other users’ channels – or better yet, post a
video response to one of their videos.

12. #2: IGNORING THE POWER OF USER GENERATED CONTENT (UGC).
GET THEM TO SAY IT FOR YOU
Instead of trying to convince other people to share your
content, invite them to create their own - greatly
increasing the likelihood it will be shared.
Social media is ultimately a self-centered endeavor;
shared content is primarily a reflection of the person
sharing it.

13. #1: HAVING NOTHING WORTHWHILE TO SAY
SOCIAL MEDIA IS THE PLATE, NOT THE MEAL.
1/3 of your time should be spent growing your social
network.
1/3 of your time should be spent engaging with that
network, one-to-one.
1/3 of your time should be spent sharing fresh,
remarkable, and exclusive content with your entire
network via a creative and well executed digital
promotion.
Without the latter, what’s the point?

14. AND REMEMBER...
SOCIAL MEDIA IS ABOUT DRIVING THE BOTTOM LINE
One way or another, Social Media (as with all marketing
tactics) is ultimately about increasing revenue and/or
reducing costs. Although it can be difficult, Social
Media’s ROI can and should be measured in dollars.
Run screaming from anyone who says otherwise!

15. THANK YOU
THIS CONCLUDES OUR PRESENTATION
Contact:
Chris Wallace
chris.wallace@thesupergroup.com
404.835.6921
Blog: thesupergroup.com/blog/
Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisWallaceTSG/
Twitter: @ChrisWallaceTSG
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/ChrisWallaceTSG
YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisWallaceTSG
www.TheSuperGroup.com