These days, nearly every business you come across has some sort of social media strategy. As a small business owner, it’s easy to get caught up in the frenzy of different groups of people telling you that your business will be left behind if you don’t get in the game. Fearing that they will miss out on opportunities or lose customers, many entrepreneurs spend valuable hours establishing a presence on every social medium they can think of.  The problem is, it takes a serious amount of time and effort to establish an effective strategy for each one.

Here are three common mistakes that businesses make when it comes to social media marketing:

Wasting time on irrelevant social areas

For a moment, remove yourself from your business.  Think of yourself as a consumer that could potentially use the resources that your company provides.  If you were on Facebook, would you “like” that business’s page?  Once you do, all of your friends will see that you are now a fan of that business, and you will see daily updates on your feed.  With that in mind, ask yourself if your company is the type of business that should spend a lot of resources here.  If you’re a bakery that’s trying to build a reputation as having the best cupcakes in town, the answer could be “yes”.  If your a debt consolidation company that helps people avoid bankruptcy, the answer is probably “no”.

Spreading your resources too thin

With everyone buzzing about “the next Facebook or Twitter“, many businesses are simply spreading their resources too thin.  It could be beneficial to be on several different types of social sites eventually, but you must be realistic about the time and money you have to devote to each one.  It doesn’t cost anything to set up a Facebook Page or Twitter account, but you must think of the amount of time it takes to be effective on each.  If you only have an hour a day to devote to your social media strategy, you’re much better off with identifying which area will yield the biggest bang for your buck and sticking to it.  Doing the best you can with what you have on one site will yield much better results than spending the same amount of time on four or five.

Giving up too quickly

The fact of the matter is, it simply takes time to see the great results that social media can provide.  It takes months and months of focused effort to build a community of raving fans.  Many times, you’ll find yourself becoming frustrated and wanting to give up.  Because of this, you should think of your social media marketing efforts like a commercial airliner taking off.  From a standstill, it takes a lot of energy to get off the ground.  As you attempt to build speed for take off, the engines are roaring and the plane is shaking.  As you leave the ground, the engines continue at full throttle, but the shaking stops.  Eventually, you reach a cruising altitude.  You can pull back on the throttle, and enjoy the benefits of all the hard work it took to get there.

In the world of social media, it’s better to spend all of your available time and resources on specific areas.  Spending a minimal amount of time on every social tool out there will only result in spinning wheels.  To get serious traction, you must focus your efforts wisely, and be realistic about the time and money that you have to spend.