I have been around the marketing and advertising block a time or two, and I've seen some changes -- some great and some not-so-great changes. However, with the advent of social media, I have seen a series of trends I find disturbing: overestimating or underestimating social media's importance.

As a public service, here are three trends to avoid:

Scary Trend No. 1: Not giving social media enough credit.

While I think it's great many companies are jumping into the social media fray, some companies think social media is "for the kids," so they underestimate its importance as a communication tool. They hand over the social media reigns to an intern in order to provide some "busy work," rather than realizing the ramifications of a social media strategy that is not planned carefully. If you're going to incorporate social media into your marketing campaign, do so deliberately. Don't blow it off or do it halfway.

Scary Trend No. 2: Giving social media entirely too much credit.

Some companies (and I'm not naming names!) have decided that since social media is so popular, it should take the place of an integrated-communications strategy. They eliminate the rest of their marketing plan and hire a social media guru to do what an entire marketing department has not been able to do, thus setting up said guru for failure. Social media is merely one tool in your arsenal; it does not take the place of an integrated strategy.

Scary Trend No. 3: Realizing it's too much too soon.

If you're active in social media, you know this scenario all too well: You start following a company on a social media site because you like the brand. The next thing you know, you're bombarded with promotional messages, product information, and generic messages, much like getting stuck in the corner at a party, talking to some blowhard who only wants to talk about himself or herself. If you don't want to engage your customers in a dialogue, skip social media and buy some spots already.