Reaching out to your current and potential local business customers via social media is likely a vital part of your marketing strategy. However, if you make a couple key mistakes your time and efforts may not be having the impact you desire. So what are these key mistakes and how do you avoid them?

The first common social media mistake is not tailoring your business’ message to a specific audience. Although your local business product or service potentially has a universal appeal, social media messages that are general tend not resonate as well with audiences as those which are specific and appeals to particular demographic interests or needs. Therefore, in order to be successful with your social media messaging, it is vital that your local business clearly define who is the target audience for general social media messaging, particular campaigns, or specific social media platforms. Perhaps the best place to start in addressing this potential issue is to determine if your local business does in fact have one very targeted demographic regardless of what social media marketing it is doing. If the answer is no, the next step is then to determine what demographic is most appropriate to target on each social media platform. Remember, there is some very good data available online about what audiences prefer each type of media and sometimes even what time of the day a particular demographic is most involved.

The second social media marketing mistake local businesses make is to always be selling your local business product or service. Although it is true, social media can be a great way to increase your sales, it’s important not to go overboard. It’s important to share more about your business in general. This sharing can often include providing information about the community in which you operate and what is taking place there. What are the interests and passions of yourself and your employees which enhance how you provide your product or service? Ultimately, social media gives your business the opportunity to be a bit more personal. Take advantage of this unique aspect. Often the personal information can help your organization form a more personal connection with customers and increase their loyalty. Further, it’s often the unique characteristics of an organization which followers find fun and share with others. Therefore, by not selling all the time on social media your local business may be able to increase its audience and in turn have more individuals to provide offers and information to when the time to sell comes.

If you’re looking for more information on avoiding these social media mistakes, there are great resources online including this local business article.

Author Chris Marentis is the founder and CEO of Surefire Social, an local internet marketing company.