After more than ten years of social media, one could argue that companies and their owners are still shouting instead of listening, promoting instead of educating, or following company policies instead of customer needs. This kind of behaviour will only lead to less interest, less loyalty and fewer sales. So to keep your company in the minds and hearts of your market, make sure you break – or never start – these five bad social media habits.

1. Never respond. Too often companies will choose to go silent after posting something they know will attract a significant response. This clearly demonstrates a lack of interest or caring towards their followers. If you’re not prepared to respond to feedback from your own posts, perhaps you should stop posting.
2. Only promote. Yes, we know you’re having a sale, releasing a new product, and just closed a huge deal. After a while though, this all gets a little boring. Instead of only promoting your company, how about sharing some fun stuff. Pull back the curtain once in a while and show the world what makes you unique. Share some stories of both your success, failures, and the people that make your company awesome.
3. Be passive. I recently reached out to an airline through Twitter about being over charged. After asking me for all the details, they gave me the link to their website’s customer inquiry form. They should have proactively taken the matter to the right department and had someone get back to me. Not using social media as a customer service gateway is a missed opportunity to demonstrate how much you value your customers.
4. #hashtag everything. Companies will often use hashtags in an attempt to get greater exposure or to be cute and funny. The fact is, they are distracting when inserted too often and inauthentic when used to ride the coattails of a trending topic. If a hashtag does not add value to the post, leave it out.
5. Don’t share. For some, the very thought of posting another company’s content on their social platform could get them fired. But what’s the issue? If a none competing company has something that you think your audience would appreciate, share it. It will make your company look wise, confident and secure. All traits your customers will be attracted to.

Marc Gordon is a recognized marketing expert, speaker and strategist. His articles appear in over 200 publications worldwide. Visit marcgordon.ca or his online show at marctv.net for more business tips.