Jumping into social media may be the easy part. It becomes difficult when you’ve been active for a while but just aren’t seeing the results you would like. Are you doing something wrong? Is there something you can do differently? Are you boring?

Those are just some examples of the second-guessing we all do with social media. Here are 15 things that might be ruining any chance at social media success.

1. Your Twitter avatar is an egg
2. You bio is everything but a bio
3. You blast the same message across multiple platforms
4. You don’t tweet enough, or at all
5. You use Twitter solely to sell a product or service
6. You promote yourself more than others
7. Your contributions are thin or lack innovation
8. You retweet every mention of yourself
9. You use hashtags to express an internal thought, not to categorize a conversation
10. You focus on gaining followers instead of producing quality tweets
11. You haven’t cleaned up or reorganized your following list
12. You forgot your manners
13. You tweet for yourself not for your audience
14. You are overly negative
15. Your tweets are full of #madeuphashtags and not ones from your industry

Don’t be discouraged if you took part in one of these examples. Whether you do or you don’t, here are 6 simple steps to improve your twitter game:

1. Show you’re listening. Listen first and then engage. Quite often that will result in a courtesy follow.
2. Don’t be a stranger. Complete a full bio and let people know who you are and what you’ll likely be tweeting about.
3. Don’t push your agenda or dish out opinions that some might deem offensive. Etiquette is so important on social media.
4. Play into the demands of your following by tweeting something that’s beneficial to them.
5. If you aren’t sure what to tweet, here’s a tip: people follow others who are informative, funny, useful or exciting. If you don’t fall under one of those categories, try to gradually incorporate them into your repertoire to help distinguish yourself amongst the crowd. Social influence is generated by the quality of your contributions not the quantity.
6. Look to clean up your followers list every few weeks, seek out new influential people and broaden your network. The great thing about social media is that you have the ability to personalize your network and make it yours. Step outside your regular industry and meet new people.

Did I miss any? Share any tips you know that help increase Twitter following in the comment section below!

Tags: Listening, twitter