We get a lot of questions about social media these days from clients. The buzz around social media is deafening, and it seems that “everyone is doing it.” Though, in more cases than not, businesses are still warming up to the idea.

When trying to come up with a social media marketing plan that works for you and your business, we can often learn from mistakes that others make.

Here are 6 faux pas to avoid:

1. No automated greetings. When you set up a 3rd party social media application to automatically reply to your followers, you’re basically being seen as spam. Don’t put your virtual foot in your mouth.

2. Put together a plan. Put together a strategy, and communicate that strategy to your employees. You’ll need a clear idea of how social networks can expand your company’s marketing or customer service strategy. You’ll also need to make sure you  have clear benchmarks you can use to measure how your plan is doing.

3. Don’t be a broken record. Repeating yourself over and over again on your blog, facebook wall or Twitter page is a recipe for disaster. It not only alienates current and potential followers, but it’s embarrassing. Come up with original content.

4. Engage more than sell. While shameless promotion is a good thing, too much of a good thing can work against you. Don’t be afraid to change things up by posting links to news in your vertical market or industry, or cite interesting things people in your network are saying. Give your audience interesting tidbits of information to keep them engaged.

5. Personality helps. Each employee who is posting to your account(s) should be encouraged to be themselves. Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through — in your tone, message and voice.

6. No ghost tweeters. Many companies pay other companies or outside experts to run their social media strategy. Huge mistake. Put your best people on your social networks and educate them on how to respond to clients and customers… quickly and professionally. It’s minimal cost for maximum return.