Companies considering using a social media advertising campaign are being advised to approach the sector with caution.

Writing on E-consultancy, Site Visibility director Damon Lightley claims that a bad social media strategy can actually do more harm than good.

He said: "Everyone knows that bad news travels fast and this is where the risk lies for short-sighted social media plans."

Mr Lightley suggested that although setting up a social network on websites "might sound appealing" for advertisers, unless companies develop a plan for attracting and interacting with users then it may "reflect terribly on your brand".

Meanwhile, firms who solely choose to send press releases to the likes of Del.icio.us and Digg may find their attempts to increase online traffic curbed, as companies who load the social websites with spam run the risk of being banned.

As a result, he advised firms considering using social media to carry out as much research into the form of marketing as possible.

Last week, Neil Patel claimed on Search Engine Land that marketers can do more to make social media websites such as Netscape attract users.

He suggested that advertisers make sure the content they submit to such websites is loaded with keywords.