Social media has become a necessary element of any company?s online marketing strategy. Businesses all over the world in every niche are using social media marketing successfully to connect with consumers and create brand awareness. However, if not used correctly, social media can have a negative effect on branding and lead to a PR nightmare with disastrous consequences for your business. It is thus important for companies to have a professional approach to social media and avoid the common pitfalls.
Below are six social media mistakes that can damage your credibility and result in a PR nightmare for your business. You should avoid these mistakes at all costs in order to ensure your company gets the right kind of attention it deserves.
1. Prevent Engagement in Any Way
One of the main objectives of social media is to promote engagement and interaction among users. Although this may seem obvious, there are many examples where businesses have hindered engagement and have suffered as a result. When CVS launched their new Twitter account, their tweets were private and not visible to the public. Users had to be first approved by CVS before they could access and follow their tweets. This is a perfect example of what a business should not do on social media.
Another example of this is Burger King?s Facebook contest, the ?Whopper Sacrifice.? As part of the contest, users who deleted at least 10 friends from their Facebook profile received a free Whopper. This not only annoyed users but also led to the campaign being shut down by Facebook. See image of the contest below.
2. Avoid Spam at all Costs
Spamming users with too many sales messages or posting the same messages repeatedly is another social media mistake that can result in bad PR and loss of credibility for a business. Bombarding your follower?s newsfeeds with repetitive marketing information appears as spam and is damaging to your company`s brand.
An example of this is Toyota?s Twitter campaign to promote their Camry model during last year`s super bowl. Toyota had created multiple Twitter accounts starting from @CamryEffect1 to @CamryEffect9, and bombarded users with tweets promoting a prize draw for a chance to win a free Camry. Needless to say, this had the opposite effect and users accused Toyota of spamming them with unsolicited messages. Although Toyota suspended the accounts and issued an apology, it was too late.
3. Be Sensitive to Real Events
Businesses should never try to make light of serious events as it can backfire and have a negative effect on branding. The following two examples come to mind.
a. Kenneth Cole`s Cairo Tweet
Fashion designer Kenneth Cole received a lot of bad publicity following a tweet that made light of the recent protests in Egypt. This was followed by angry protests and calls to boycott Kenneth Cole.? The bad publicity had a viral effect with many fake accounts created by users mocking the company with several humorous tweets mimicking the original post. Kenneth Cole were finally forced to delete the tweet and issue an apology but the damage was already done.
b. American Apparel`s Hurricane Sandy Discount Storm Warning:
American Apparel had a similar experience and learned the hard way when the public were angered and they received a huge outcry for their failed humorous attempt at offering a Hurricane Sandy discount storm warning on their website that made light of the storm that affected so many people in America.
The backlash and outrage from Twitter users was immediate and there were calls to boycott the business. American Apparel tried to ignore the issue and made no comments or apologies which led to even further outrage.
4. Avoid self-promotion on Social Media
There is nothing wrong with a business wanting to use social media to get new customers. In fact most businesses use their social media accounts for some level of promotion. The problem arises when most of your posts and actions are geared towards marketing or promoting your business or its products. It is far more effective to post about the topics your customers are likely to be interested in along with useful links to content that does not directly promote your company.
Another example is when businesses only share content from their own website or blog without sharing content from other sources or that of other users. Posts that promote your business or your products should account for less than 10 % of your total shares.
5. Do Not Ignore Your Fans
Social media is not just about initiating conversations or creating awareness about your business. It is also very important to respond to comments, questions, or other queries of consumers. The most successful businesses on social media are usually those that respond promptly to followers and do not ignore comments or responses of others.? Ignoring your followers or not responding promptly is one of the quickest ways to lose followers or fans on social media.
The perfect example of this is the lack of response from the business behind Kryptonite Evolution 200 U lock when a user discovered that he could pick the $50 Kryptonite Evolution 200 U lock with a Bic ball point pen. The story was reported by several blogs and even covered by the New York Times but the company still failed to respond, causing irreparable damage to the popular lock that was considered to be one of the toughest locks for securing bikes. Had the company responded or tackled this issue head on, they probably would have been able to minimize the damage to the brand that was built with many years of effort.
6. Avoid Emotional or Negative Responses
Responding quickly to complaints or bad press out of anger or resentment is another mistake that businesses should avoid at all costs.? It can be damaging to your company`s reputation and can be very difficult to recover from. Although prompt response is good and generally recommended, it is very important to remain calm and plan your response carefully before you respond to a negative comment or criticism.
Conclusion:
Social media marketing is full of opportunities for businesses. However, there are dangers too. Above are just some examples of how poor campaign strategy and common social media mistakes can damage the credibility of a business and lead to PR disaster.
Businesses should use social media to connect with consumers and build their following. Businesses should not do anything that hinders engagement on social media in any way.
What About You?
Do you use social media to promote your business? What strategy do you follow? We would like to hear from you. Please share your responses by leaving a comment below.
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Source: http://www.kronikmedia.co.uk/blog/social-media-mistakes-that-damage-credibility/6242/
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