One of the biggest mistakes that I see being made with social media marketing is that people who are new to social media often jump right in and start promoting their own content. While there is a time and a place to promote your own content with social media, if you do this right away you’ll look like a marketer and not a user. Take the time to get familiar with some various social media sites, interact with other users, learn how the sites work, and don’t worry about submitting or promoting your own content for a while.

In order to have success with social media marketing, you’ll need to understand how typical users think and what they react to. If you truly understand the social media audience, then you’ll be able to create content that appeals to them. Otherwise, you will be pushing content that may not interest them. If you’re already an active social media user and a part of a few communities, you’re ahead of the game. If not, take some time to become familiar with social media to obtain a solid foundation that can be used in your future marketing efforts.

Another common mistake that I see being made is that some users (particularly those who are new to social media) are trying to use every social site out there. There are so many social media sites that you’ll never be able to use them all, and with this approach you’re unlikely to have success with any of them. Don’t spread yourself thin – focus on just a few social media sites (I’d recommend 2 – 5) and really plan to be an active and consistent user. You’ll find that as an active user of a small number of sites, you’ll get much better results.

You may want to have an account at some other social media sites to vote occasionally, but don’t make it a habit to spend time on them regularly. Pick the sites that work well for you and for your content and forget the rest. Make an effort to see which sites seem to have an audience that would relate well to your content, and use that information to decide which sites you should be using.

4. Don’t Focus Only on Digg and Reddit

Although the major social media sites like Digg and Reddit have the most potential in terms of visitors and exposure, they are also the most competitive. There are thousands of site owners, marketers, and users that want to get their content on the front pages of these sites, and you’ll be competing with these people to get attention for your own content.

Smaller social media sites are less likely to send a rush of traffic your way, but it’s much more realistic to achieve some success. Digg is basically all or nothing. If your content doesn’t make it to the front page it will probably receive very little exposure, and a high percentage of marketers wind up spending a lot of time with nothing to show for it. In the same time, you could be promoting your content on smaller social media sites with less competition, more than likely yielding some noticeable results.