So everyone from small startups and businesses to big corporations started to search for ways to tap into this new customer and profit source, by hiring social media consultants and creating their own accounts to promote themselves and their products.

But the new social media is quite different. In this environment, people can easily discern genuine messages and persons (who really care about the others) from simple and quite selfish spam (which includes, for example, products promotion and corporate news on Twitter, Facebook and other networks, which no one cares about, judging by the followers/subscribers count).

So, what are the main reasons why a lot of big and small companies and brands fail on new social media networks?

1.       They don’t provide value to their followers.

A lot of brands just tweet about their products and give out information about events, sales, etc. The thing is, people don’t really care, whether they like your product or not. How about providing your followers with special discounts, information or events? That wouldn’t be too hard to organize and it would really surprise everyone in a positive way. Plus, a lot more people will join you because of that.

2.       They do not listen to people and the community.

When people are giving you feedback, you have to accept it, whether good or bad (companies used to pay for that in the past!). But that is not enough! You also must act upon what the community tells you. If everyone is saying that you need a certain feature in your product, you can’t just ignore them and release a new version with that feature still missing. This will make you lose credibility in front of customers, and, on the Internet, it will never be forgotten (anyone doing a quick search for reviews of your product will find those negative opinions and will think thrice before buying it).

3.       They’re not social.

You can’t be on a “Social Network” and not engage in conversations with people. That’s what it’s all about! Talk, share good and interesting information, be more open and personal, and answer everyone’s questions. If you’re getting a lot of comments or tweets and don’t’ reply, it’ll seem like you don’t care about the brand at all, which will most probably get you off the “Trusted” list of most people.

 4.       They’re not fun.

A lot of brands are having trouble with this one. Most of them are used to being serious and all business like, but that attitude backfires on them when they try getting into social media. They try to control what they say and do, but that is simply not a good decision, because people will spot it from a mile away. You’ve got to be fun, let people see something interesting, make mistakes, and do other things to show you’re genuine. If you’re scared of being more open, you shouldn’t try to become social.

 5.       They are selfish.

No one likes people who just join a community to start shouting and boasting about themselves and their products or offers. This will never work when the people make the rules and have choices. They will just turn away and never listen to you again. Don’t just try to make a quick profit, aim for long-term relationships, and provide win-win situations. It is really not that hard. If you are a software company, you could, for example, provide free copies for the first XX people that reply to you, or something similar. This will make those people happy that they are your followers and they will tell everyone about it. Even those who didn’t get the freebie will have a better opinion of you (and most of them will think “I’d better subscribe, who knows, maybe they’ll have something like this in the future”).

That’s it, reread the above points and keep them in mind for when you try to get your brand noticed and popular on social media networks.

But there is a certain unspoken code of conduct on Twitter, which new users (whether big companies that are looking for new customers or just individual people who want to connect with their friends) don’t know anything about, so they end up making exactly the same mistakes. This happens over and over again on new accounts, and it can really hurt your reputation if you’re just starting out and are already getting into trouble.

Here are the 5 most common mistakes of new Twitter users, which you should remember and avoid:

1.       Not using an avatar, a good, descriptive bio and a custom profile background.

This is the number one “Why do they do it?” mistake made mostly by individuals (companies at least bother to use a logo). It is very easy and fast to upload a picture (which you use on other sites or just a photo of yourself; if you don’t like it, you can change it later) and write up a short, but descriptive bio. You know what is most commonly associated with missing avatars? Spammer accounts. Just take some time and do it so you won’t regret it later. As for the profile background, it is actually optional, but it will really make you look more professional or organized if you use a custom one.

 2.       Trying to get popular people to reply to you.

It’s OK if you write a good, informative or interesting message to a few persons you want to friend (or are already following and want them to follow you back), but when you start poking everyone popular just to get them to notice you and possibly reply, you’re kind of crossing the line. The same goes for tweeting controversial or offensive stuff like “I think he was fined for DUI yesterday” just to get someone popular to reply (which would make those that follow him notice you, though I doubt they’ll ever want to be friends with you).

 3.       Not sharing interesting stuff.

Twitter is not just for personal or business use. You can’t talk only about yourself, your products or other people and expect to have a lot of followers. And you should not provide only value (as weird as that sounds); interesting, funny and quite useless stories and news must also be shared. This will make you seem more personal to other people, and will raise your status from “Useful, but boring, cool…” to “Wow, Useful and fun!”, which is, of course, a good thing.

 4.       Not engaging in conversations.

Don’t stick to just one-way or two-way messages. Engage in a group discussion around an event or something that interests you. This will help you get noticed and be more popular. But please, don’t just do it for the sake of doing it (like tweeting “Cool, thanks” or “OK, good bye”, they’re not helpful and are just confusing sometimes).

 5.       Not seeing Twitter as a primary communication tool.

Twitter is not a novelty anymore. Hundreds of millions of people are using it, with thousands new users joining daily. Just like Youtube is the number one tool for video sharing and LinkedIn is the most popular business/personal profile service, so is Twitter the main way to engage and communicate with friends, partners, consumers or businesses.

Remember the above points and don’t repeat them on your new profile like thousands of other people still do, and you will raise a rank above, guaranteed.