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Social media marketing was the buzzword of 2010 for small businesses, musicians, large corporations…you name it. Chances are, your business jumped on the social media bandwagon and has been feverishly Tweeting, posting Facebook status updates, uploading YouTube videos, connecting with clients on LinkedIn, blogging, and making your presence felt in any other social media space you can find.

But did you know there’s such a thing as too much social media marketing? There’s effective use of social media for building your brand, and then there’s overkill. And that happens when you spread yourself too thin across the social media landscape.

How can you make sure you’re not spreading yourself too thin?

• Have clearly defined goals—What do you want to get from your social media marketing campaign? More sales? More leads? Better customer loyalty? Improved brand perception? Identify your goals and make sure that everything you do is designed to help you reach them.
• Only go where your audience goes—It’s doubtful that the core of your audience maintains a strong active presence on more than a few social media sites. Identify the handful of sites where your target audience is most active and focus only on those. Everything else is a waste of your time and energy.
• Track your results—At the end of the day, the only way to determine if your social media marketing efforts are paying off is to track your results. One thing you can do is look at your website’s analytics to see where you’re getting the highest quality traffic from. You can also pay attention to which social media platforms are giving you the highest level of engagement with your audience and the most useful information. Any social media space that isn’t providing results should be dropped.

Be honest. Are you spread too thin on social media?

By now, there’s a pretty good chance your company has built an active social media presence. Whether your company is now Tweeting, interacting on Facebook, blogging, or doing anything else social, it’s a good idea to have a policy in place to create standards for how social media will be used within your company.

Why is it so important to create a corporate social media policy? Here are 4 good reasons.

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Before we get started, let me just say one thing. I’m not here to tell you how to use Twitter. There are countless ways you can use Twitter for business purposes, and there is no such thing as a single “right way” to Tweet.

However, if you’re using Twitter for any sort of brand building purposes, there is a simple rule I think is very helpful to follow. I call it the “Who cares?” test.

Before you send out a Tweet, look at its content and ask yourself “Who cares?” Will your followers actually be interested in the Tweet? Is it something that’s useful, entertaining, or valuable to them in some form or fashion?

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As more and more businesses are hopping on the social networking bandwagon, it seems like a day doesn’t go by without me seeing a print ad, banner ad, email message, or some other promotional piece from a company urging me to “Like” them on Facebook. And of the hundreds of companies that have asked me to “Like” them on Facebook, guess how many I’ve actually “Liked.”

Zero.

And I know I’m not alone. How many businesses do you “Like” on Facebook? I’m guessing very few.

Why is that?

The problem boils down to a simple lesson we’re all taught in Marketing 101. If the user doesn’t get a benefit from taking the action, they won’t do what you want them to do. Simply saying “Like us on Facebook” doesn’t offer any incentive for your customers to take that action. What do they have to gain by logging onto Facebook and “Liking” your business?

If you’re serious about getting fans for your business’ Facebook page, you have to give people a reason to “Like” you.

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A lot of businesses are still trying to feel out just how to use Twitter to build their brand. And while I’m not one of those people who believes there’s only one right way to use Twitter, I think we can all agree that there are mistakes businesses can make that can severely hamper their social media marketing efforts.

Here are 5 dumb things businesses do on Twitter.

1. Argue with customers—Not everyone is going to like you. Especially if you’re a bigger brand with decent name recognition. There will be people who say negative things about your company or who use Twitter as a forum to complain about an experience they’ve had with you. Never get into arguments with customers on Twitter. It’s unprofessional. If you do respond to something negative someone says, do so in a polite, helpful manner with an apology or an offer to correct the situation.
2. Follow anyone and everyone—If you follow a ton of people, you’ll end up with a clogged up Twitter stream that you just can’t keep up with. More importantly, someone who follows 20,000 people and only has 100 followers looks like a spammer. Choose who you follow carefully. Make sure it’s people you’re truly interested in and who are right for your brand.
3. Only Tweet links to their own blog/website—Yes, Twitter can be a good tool for driving traffic back to your website, but that doesn’t mean that you should only Tweet links to your own stuff. I like to share things I think my followers will find interesting, no matter where it comes from. This helps to position you as a true resource, and it shows your followers that you’re not just a shameless self-promoter.
4. Have no personality—Too many companies are stuffy and corporate with their Twitter presence. In other words, they’re boring. And when it comes to Twitter, being boring is the worst thing you can be. Don’t be afraid to have a personality. It adds a personal touch to your Twitter account, helping people truly connect with you.
5. Not track company mentions—If you’re on Twitter, you should be tracking all mentions of your company. You can set alerts so that any time someone Tweets something about your company, you know about it. This helps you stay on top of the conversation so you can react quickly to manage the conversation.

What are some mistakes your business has made on Twitter?